Bound to love?
by Maydrei
Summary: When Gaara and Sakura literally get stuck with each other, how will they cope? Having to share Sakura's tiny apartment is sure to cause some problems...but what happens when a deep hunger grows in Gaara, and it isn't food he's after?
1. Chapter 1

Alright, here you go! First chapter. Oh, and Sakura is sixteen.

Sakura ran a hand through her hair, frowning at the sweat she felt. Training today had been hard, Naruto was a little too much for her to handle. They had just finished, and now she didn't know what to do with herself. Naruto said that he had promised Kiba to do something with him, so Sakura waved him off, wondering what she should do for the rest of the day. It was just getting dark out, so there weren't many options.

Dully she thought about visiting Kakashi or Ino, but neither really seemed appealing. Kakashi would have probably already escaped the hospital, and who knew what kind of mood Ino would be in. So she wandered around the village, not quite sure where she was going. Soon she found herself in the market and shrugged, why not buy something for her apartment? She wandered down to the shop stalls, looking over the merchandise. She turned her head up to the sky, wondering how low the sun was.

But then she bumped into something and was knocked over.

She fell heavily and groaned, looking up. And froze.

She had wandered into a deserted street, well, almost deserted. Gaara was glaring down at her, and Sakura struggled to hide her terror. "Hn." Gaara scowled and turned away, moving to walk off.

But a ninja had other plans. Out of nowhere, a man clothed in black leaped from a roof and landed in front of Gaara, making him step back and bump into Sakura. She saw him and took a fighting stance. The ninja threw himself at Gaara. Gaara ducked and threw his hand up, sand wrapped around the attacker.

But that was only a distraction. Sakura sensed something behind her and spun, seeing another black clothed ninja quickly make a hand sign like looked like a complicated jutsu. She stepped back and knocked into Gaara, who didn't budge. A green, rope-like substance appeared and threw itself at her. She yelped and raised her hands, but when the substance collided with her, she didn't feel any pain.

Instead, she felt a slight pressure stream over her entire body, and by Gaara's sudden growl, she knew he was feeling the same thing. Sakura whipped out her weapons and a throwing star was launched at the woman, burying itself into her shoulder. Gaara surrounded her with sand, his face murderous. As he did, the other ninja was released and ran for it.

Out of nowhere Kakashi appeared, knocking the female attacker to the ground. He held a kunai above her throat and glared at her. Gaara let his sand recede and let out a deep breath. Sakura was busy examining herself for any trace of the strange jutsu, but saw nothing.

"Who sent you?" Kakashi demanded, straddling the woman ninja. She only smiled at him and lashed out with her elbow, making Kakashi roll off her. Before any of them could react, she disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Sensei!" Sakura hurried to his side, but stopped short, falling backwards. "What the?!" Sakura managed to regain her balance and straitened.

"What's wrong?" Kakashi asked.

"I don't know…" she raised her hands and pushed them in front of her. They met an invisible barrier just a small space away from her body. She growled and punched at it, but just as she struck out, her hand erupted in pain at the same spot where her hands were stopped. Wincing, she withdrew her hand and rubbed it.

Gaara walked over to her side and raised his hand, which was allowed to go its complete length. He threw an odd look at Sakura and stepped forward, nothing fought him. Sakura warily reached out, and, touching nothing, jumped forward. Nothing happened. Her face grew red as both Gaara and Kakashi stared at her. She glanced down at her fist and saw that it was red, and the pain was still there.

"Sakura, is something wrong?" Kakashi asked.

She ignored him and walked forward. One step…two…as she continued, Sakura began to feel very foolish, but suddenly she hit the invisible force again, just ten feet away from Gaara. She took a few steps back, then lunged forward—and hit a wall, hard. She was thrown backwards and landed on her back. Kakashi stood and moved to her side.

Gaara had watched her quietly, and now turned around, shaking his head. But just a few steps and he stopped. There was a low hiss, and he turned back to Sakura. "What the hell are you doing? I can't move."

"Oh no."

Both of them turned to look a Kakashi. He sighed and shook his head. "I've heard of this jutsu…Sakura, what color was that thing that covered you?"

"Green, why?"

He groaned, glancing between Sakura and Gaara. "You aren't going to like this…that was a rare kind of jutsu…and, well, it's hard to break."

"What is?" Sakura asked her voice sharp.

Kakashi sighed and decided to just let it out in the open. "That jutsu binds two people together for a certain amount of distance; the stronger the ninja who performs it, the less room there is between the two people."

"What do you mean, binds?" Gaara demanded.

"I mean, that you two can only go a few steps away from each other. If you try to go farther, you'll be stopped."

"And how long does it last?" Sakura whispered.

Kakashi coughed, "Until the person who performed it releases, or until they die."

"What?!" Sakura yelled.

"That's not possible," Gaara hissed.

_I can't be stuck with this killer for that long! I'll be dead before dinner!_ Sakura fought the urge of panic.

Gaara scowled and lunged forward, but was—unsurprisingly—thrown backward. He quickly recovered and landed on his feet. His face grew bland as he walked toward Sakura.

"Killing her won't break the jutsu," Kakashi warned.

He hesitated, and Sakura gulped. Never mind dinner, she wasn't going to live the next hour! Then Gaara continued, right up to Sakura, and bent down, throwing her over his shoulder. She yelped and protested, but Gaara calmly resumed walking. Kakashi kept pace with him and removed Sakura, holding her bridal style as he asked, "Just where did you plan on going with her?"

"Back to my village."

"I'm not going with you!" Sakura yelled, and Kakashi set her down. Gaara glared at her.

Kakashi said, "Gaara, why don't you stay here, at least until we find out who that ninja was. Once we do, I'll send out a team and bring her back, or, if she resists, kill her."

"And what are we supposed to do until then?" Sakura demanded.

"Learn to cope," Kakashi said, then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Sakura stared at where he had just stood. This wasn't happening. This wasn't happening! No, no, no, no, no!

"Come on," Gaara said, walking down the street. Sakura knew better than to argue with him and reluctantly followed him.

"Where are you going?"

"Food."

Sakura nodded and followed him. They were silent as they walked, and she noticed that many of the people on the street were staring, first at Gaara, then at her. Why was she with this killer?

Gaara led her to the ramen shop and sat down, quickly ordering a bowl. Sakura ordered another, deep in thought. If they were going to be stuck like this for a while, she would have to be careful. Already she was treading dangerous ground. And then she thought of the things that seemed impossible now, with him having to be so close. The thought of needing to bathe and change clothes made her shiver, and then blush when she realized Gaara had the same needs as her. Glancing at him, she quickly looked away. He was staring at her.

"W-what?"

"Where do you live?"

She frowned, now realizing how close they would be, at all times. "In an apartment…it's kind of small…"

"Of course," he grumbled. "Look, if we're going to be stuck with this," he said with authority, "there are going to be a few rules. No touching me."

_Done, I don't want to touch you anyways._

"Don't talk to me."

_You're not exactly chatty anyways._

"And what I say goes."

_Right…that's going to be a problem._

But Sakura remained silent and merely ate her ramen. She felt Gaara's eyes on her and ignored him. Soon she was finished, and Gaara pushed away his barely eaten bowl. He put money down on the counter and followed Sakura out. She hurried to her apartment, not wanting to answer any questions about why she was leading Gaara to her home.

But of course, it didn't work. Just as she was reached the stairs, Naruto's voice rang out loudly. "Sakura! Hey! Why don't--."

He stopped suddenly, and as she turned around, Sakura winced, knowing what had made him cut off. Gaara was standing behind her, his arms crossed.

Naruto's face was confused, and he asked warily, "Sakura…?"

She decided to act like nothing was wrong. "What is it?"

"Err…who is that behind you?"

Like he didn't know. "It's Gaara."

Naruto looked at her like she was crazy. "Oh, yeah. Why?"

"Why not?" Gaara asked. Naruto blinked at his sudden words, and gawked as he slipped his arm around Sakura. She was just as surprised as him, and was too shocked as he began to lead her up the stairs to protest. Naruto's alarmed and terrified face disappeared from view.

After a few steps, Gaara removed his arm.

"What was that?" Sakura demanded.

"What was what?" he asked, looking bored.

"Why did you put your arm around me?" she asked; her face flushing.

"You weren't moving," he answered, and continued up the stairs. "And you obviously didn't like it when I carried you before."

She sighed and followed him, opening the door when they reached her apartment.

I know, a little boring, it will start to pick up, I promise. Comment please, I accept flames.


	2. Chapter 2

Wow…already nine people have declared this as one of their favorites…thanks! A lot of you mentioned how funny it was…I don't really see how it's funny, but whatever works. Also, some of you were confused by Gaara's actions—let me make this clear. He is only teasing her, and making her as uncomfortable as possible.

Gaara stepped in and immediately slouched over the couch. She took a deep breath and turned to the cupboards, the ramen hadn't filled her up. She opened the doors and quickly grabbed a fruit bar, sitting down in a chair. Her bedroom was just behind the wall, and her bathroom was on the side of it. She sighed with relief when she realized that taking a bath wouldn't be a problem, Gaara could just sit on the bed while she was in the bathroom.

The bar froze just a few inches from her mouth. Her bed. The couch wasn't close enough to her bedroom for him to sleep here. That meant…her face turned red. Calm down, she tried to tell herself, nothing is wrong with that; we don't need to do anything, just sleep.

Gaara seemed to be thinking about the same thing, minus the embarrassing details. "Where's your bed?"

Her blush grew, and he noticed. She hurriedly stood and walked down into her bedroom, Gaara following her. She opened the door and he stepped in, and she turned back around. "Where are you going?" he asked, though he didn't sound very interested.

"I'm going to take a shower," Sakura said. I need to cool down, and stop freaking out! She quickly entered the bathroom and turned the nozzle. As the water heated up, she undressed and stepped inside, bringing goose bumps to her skin, but they quickly disappeared. She sighed happily as the warm water washed over her, and scrubbed shampoo through her hair.

But soon the suds were gone, and so was her body wash. As she turned the water off, she sighed, but this time from regret. There was nothing left to do, so she toweled herself off and reached for the pajamas she kept with the towels. And hesitated.

The pajamas were made of silk, and were pink. A fitted tank top and tiny boxer shorts. Never did she have to worry about her pajamas, but now…seeing her in this, what would Gaara do? Would he get embarrassed? Or…well, he was a teenage guy, right? Sakura hurriedly pushed that thought away. Nothing was going to happen, it would be fine.

She didn't think her face could become any redder as she slipped into her clothes and went to her room. Gaara was sitting on the bed, stripped down to his pants. She was wrong. She felt even more blood rush to face. Surely if she got any more embarrassed her face would glow in the dark. Gaara's eyes flicked to her and down, then away. His face was still blank and he stood, going to the window and opening it. Sakura quickly slipped into her bed and turned on her side so she was staring at the wall. After a moment, she felt the mattress compress and knew that Gaara was lying next to her.

She struggled to keep her breathing normal, and kept her eyes closed, as if when she opened them Gaara would be straddling her waist. Stop that! She scolded herself. He isn't even touching you now, so calm down!

Gaara's eyes glanced over her body. He hadn't except her to wear such clothes, and he couldn't help but notice that they looked good on her. Surprised at the sudden thought, he rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. It was obvious from the way she had curled up and was as close to the wall as possible, she was freaking out. He almost laughed, it was comical the position they were in. Once-crazy killer, lying in bed beside young, innocent, sixteen year old girl.

He smirked and closed his eyes, folding his hands on his chest. **A/N: I know Gaara doesn't sleep, but lets just ignore that for now :) **Hm…what was that smell? It was sweet, and Gaara opened his eyes. He liked it, but couldn't tell what it was. His eyes glanced over to the girl beside him, and seeing she was already asleep. He leaned over and brought his face to her pink hair. Was it…melon? Maybe strawberries? Gaara settled back on his side of the bed. That smell wasn't very strong, but being so close to her, it was really distracting. He grumbled and rolled on his side, pushing his head into the pillow. But of course since this was her bed, Sakura had slept in it every night, so the pillow smelt just the same. Rolling onto his back again, Gaara yawned and put his hands back on his stomach. Soon he was asleep.

He awoke just an hour later and yawned. He sat up and blinked—where the hell was he? Sensing warmth by his side, he quickly turned, and confusion rose in him. There was a girl. Sleeping in the same bed as him? She was on her side, facing him, her lips parted slightly. Slowly he relaxed, remembering what had happened the previous night, and a groan escaped his lips. He fell back onto the pillow, and Sakura stirred, opening her eyes.

"Gaara…?" Her voice was heavy with sleep. "What is it?"

"Nothing," he snapped.

"Oh." She lay there, staring at him.

The silence stretched and she finally asked, "Hey, Gaara, are you okay with this?"

"What do you mean?"

She fought a yawn and said, "Well, I mean with us being stuck together."

"Hn." Gaara rolled away from her.

Sakura frowned. If she didn't find out now, then she doubted he would tell her later. "Come on, Gaara."

He didn't respond. Sakura hesitated, then reached out and lightly touched his bare shoulder.

He whipped around and grabbed her shoulders, pinning her down on the bed. She gasped as he leaned in and hissed, "I told you not to touch me."

Sakura stared up at him and stuttered, "I'm sorry."

Gaara froze. In the dim light from the moon that streamed in the window, Sakura's face was red, and her eyes were bright. Her lips were plump and moist. The pajamas she wore shone in the moonlight, drawing his eyes to her body. Without realizing it his grip on her shoulders tightened and she winced. Immediately he removed himself from the bed and was standing by the window.

She sat up, rubbing one shoulder. "Gaara…?"

He growled and walked from the room. Sakura knew that he wouldn't be able to reach anything in the other room unless she moved closer to him, so she stood and walked to the door, opening it. She rubbed one of her eyes with the back of her hand and yawned. "Gaara?"

It was darker in this room, and she could just make out his silhouette standing between the counter and couch. He turned to her, and Sakura slowly stepped forward. "What is it?" He didn't answer and watched Sakura with guarded eyes. "Hey…come on, tell me."

Still the man remained silent. She sighed and moved behind the counter, having spent enough time with her male friends to know they were in better moods with a full stomach. Fumbling for the light switch, she blinked at the burst of light and opened her small fridge, searching for leftovers of her previous dinner.

"What are you doing?" Gaara asked.

"Making you food."

He looked at her suspiciously but sat down at the counter anyway. Soon Sakura passed him a plate with seafood pasta with a creamy sauce. "What if I don't like seafood?" he asked, looking down at his plate.

"You're going to like it," Sakura said promisingly, sitting down with her own plate a chair away from him and began to eat. He hesitated, and then took a bite. It was good, and soon all of it was gone. Sakura glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, wondering what had happened in the bedroom. Why had he reacted like that?

Gaara slumped onto the counter, staring in front of him. Sakura wasn't sure if she should try to talk to him, so she took his plate and her own and set it in the sink. Glancing at him again, she knew that he wasn't willing to go back to the bed, so she crawled onto the couch.

Gaara remained in that position for an hour, then straitened and glanced at Sakura. She was curled around herself, sleeping. He was still pretty tired, and wasn't going to be sleeping on the floor. Reluctantly, he leaned over and shifted her into his arms, carrying her to the bed. She murmured in her sleep, her lips restless. He set her down and slid into bed beside her.

Determined to sleep, he rolled onto his stomach and pulled the pillow over his head, breathing in the sweet smell.

There you have it! Second chapter. Please comment, mention anything you didn't like, or things you loved. Let me know what's good and bad so I can get better please!


	3. Chapter 3

Alright, well, just to clear something up. Gaara no longer harbors the demon, so he can sleep. I know that it is removed during the series, but I haven't gotten that far to know much about it. So if some of this is a little off, sorry.

Sakura awoke, feeling groggy. She pulled the blankets off her and started at the sight of Gaara, then calmed. He was sleeping on his stomach, his face turned away from her. She frowned, carefully climbing over him, avoiding contact, and slipped from the bed. She ruffled through her drawers and grabbed some clothes, then went to the bathroom to change. When she returned to her room, Gaara was sitting up in the bed fully dressed, his legs hanging off the side. He watched her with jade eyes as she walked in.

"What are we doing today?" Sakura asked. She wasn't planning on anything, but maybe Gaara had something to do. He only shrugged and stood, moving into the kitchen. She followed him, though she wanted to go back to bed.

He was waiting for her by the door, and stepped out when she was close enough. Sakura noticed that he kept as much distance between each other as possible. Once they climbed down all the stairs, Gaara turned to her. "Where is Kakashi?"

"Um, his apartment is…this way…" Sakura walked up down the street, Gaara keeping a good distance behind her with his arms crossed. Sakura prayed that since it was so early, no one would see them together…which would bring around awkward questions, or rumors could start about why they were constantly together. She sighed quietly, hoping Gaara wouldn't hear. He did but ignored it.

Finally they reached his apartment building and Sakura climbed the stairs. She knocked on a door and hesitated when there was no answer. Gaara pushed her aside and opened the door. She almost yelled at him, but decided it wouldn't be the best idea and merely walked inside.

Gaara was already leaning over the motionless form of Kakashi on a worn couch. He looked like he was about to hit him to wake Kakashi, so she hurried over and quickly shook Kakashi's shoulder. He grumbled and lifted his arm, wrapping it around Sakura and pulling her close, mumbling something. She froze and looked up at Gaara panicked, who was watching with amusement. He didn't look like he was going to help, so Sakura tried to push Kakashi away, but he was too strong and his arm didn't budge. Actually, he pulled her closer, and she could smell sake on his breath, even through the mask. "Sensei…? Um, Kakashi sensei, what are you doing?" she asked embarrassedly.

"Nothing, Anko…" he mumbled and wrapped his other arm around her.

"Anko?" Sakura gasped.

Kakashi stirred and opened his eye, taking in Sakura's face, alarmed eyes, and bright red cheeks. He jumped up, releasing her, and fell over the back of the couch, nearly taking out Gaara, while yelling, "Sakura? What the hell?!"

Gaara looked down at him, a scornful smirk on his lips. "Honestly, cuddling up with a student?"

"Gaara!" Sakura protested her face now a bright red. She kneeled onto the couch and leaned over the edge, looking at her sensei. "Kakashi sensei, are you alright?"

He stood and said, "I apologize, Sakura…"

Sakura decided to play it off, hiding her embarrassment. She braced her elbow on the back of the couch and set her chin in her hand, watching Kakashi. "You and Anko?" she mused, raising an eyebrow.

"I have no idea what you are talking about," Kakashi said smoothly. He turned to Gaara. "So…How life as a trapped couple?"

"Not so bad…" Sakura said, keeping her blush from her face, remembering what had happened the previous night.

Kakashi's eye crinkled. "Have you tried showering yet?"

"Thinking again of your student?" Gaara stepped in.

Sakura's face exploded in red…she hadn't thought of actually showering together, just having to be in the room while he showered—and now all sorts of images flashed through her mind. "Gaara!"

"Absolutely not," Kakashi said evenly. "So what are you here for?"

"What have you done about the ninja?" Gaara demanded.

"Well, we don't have that much information…because they both escaped. I already sent someone over to Suna to see what they knew about any other attacks, but we won't know soon."

Sakura's face fell, but Gaara held back his disappointment. There could be some good points to this, he thought. Like…she can cook, at least…

"Are you sure?" Sakura pressed. "You don't have any leads?"

"No," he sighed, "I don't. It isn't very top priority, you have to understand. Both of you are fine, and no one got hurt…"

"Not top priority?" Gaara demanded. "I am not going to stay like this!"

Kakashi had no fear of this kid. "Yes, you are, until we figure out what to do," he said.

Sakura bit her lip. "Gaara, lets just go," she urged. He glanced at her, then back at Kakashi. "Gaara, staring at Kakashi isn't going to break the jutsu," she said with a little more force. Standing up from the couch, she walked out, as far as she could. Soon she was allowed forward and knew Gaara was behind her, so she walked slowly. They stepped out into the sun and blinked.

She tried to lighten the mood. "So…Kakashi and Anko…weird, huh?"

Gaara shrugged and looked around, looking bored.

"Um, Gaara?" He glanced at her. "What were you doing at my village?"

"I was just about to leave."

"Oh…so, your village will be expecting you back soon?"

"I guess."

Sakura nodded, and then looked back up at him. "Do you want to send a message to them?"

"No."

Her shoulders dropped, he wasn't much of a talker. "Why not?" she prompted.

He glared at her. "Why do you care so damn much?"

She ducked her head. "Well…I just thought that…never mind."

He continued to look at her curiously, so she gulped and went on. "Well, I just thought that since it seems like we're going to be together for a while, I might as well get to know you, I mean, it would be awkward if all day we just stood together without saying anything at all…"

_She wants to know about me? Why_? Gaara shook his head and let a smile touch his lips. "And the fact that we are now sleeping together has nothing to do with it?"

"WHAT?!"

Sakura flinched and turned around. Ino stood there, gaping at them, along with Naruto. "Ino?" _Oh, no…she heard him!_ "Gaara!" Sakura hissed, but he was looking bored again.

"You two are _what_?" Ino demanded, staring at her friend.

"You and Gaara?" Naruto sputtered.

"We are not!" Sakura protested, and then glanced around. Some of the people on the street were staring at them, so she said, "Look, just come with me, I'll explain everything." She hurriedly began walking toward one of the more deserted areas of the village. Ino rushed after her, but Naruto stood in the same spot, along with Gaara. Once Sakura hit the barrier, she turned around and glared at Gaara. He sighed and walked towards her. Soon all four of them were out of earshot of everyone else and she turned around to face them. Ino quickly leaped at the chance to start.

"Since when were you two sleeping together?"

"We are not sleeping together!" Sakura said loudly, annoyed.

"Oh, come now, Sakura…" Gaara said, moving over to her side. "Don't lie." If he was going to be stuck with her, he would make sure to torment her every chance he got.

"_Sakura!_" Ino hissed.

She stepped from him. Naruto was glaring at Gaara. "We are not," Sakura said forcefully. Gaara opened his mouth, but she quickly said, "Well, technically, we share my bed, but that's it. Look, it's complicated…" She rubbed her eyes. "I'll just tell you the whole story."

A little while later, she finished. Naruto whistled. Ino sat down, and Sakura at her side. "So…"

"Yeah, we're stuck together." Sakura sighed and glanced up at Gaara. He was staring up the sky. Sakura stood and motioned Ino to follow her, and moved away from him as far as she could.

"What's up?" Ino asked.

"Um, Ino, I need to get me some things…"

"Why can't you get them?"

"I'm not going to have Gaara follow me around everywhere while I shop. All I need are a few pairs of pajamas," she said, giving her money.

"Why pajamas…? Oh, wait, do you want to impress him?" she giggled.

"No!" Sakura sighed. "The only pair I have are these skimpy little silk ones, and I'm not comfortable with a guy right next to me while I'm wearing that!" she hissed quietly.

Ino's face fell a little bit. "Alright, I'll leave them at your place as soon as I get them." They were quiet for a moment, the Ino asked, "Hey, Sakura, isn't it weird having him so close all the time?"

"Yes!" She glanced over at Gaara, who was still staring at the sky. Naruto was eyeing him carefully, looking annoyed. "The weirdest part is when I'm in the shower," Sakura shivered. "I always freak out, knowing he's just sitting there in my room."

Ino snickered, but Sakura's glare kept her comment away. Instead, she said, "Hey…it can't be all that bad! At least you know you won't be killed while you're together."

"Yeah, like I get attacked on a daily basis," Sakura said sarcastically. "Look, I better go, it looks like he's getting annoyed. But please, Ino, please—keep quiet about this, I don't want any weird rumors popping up, alright?"

"I'll try…" Ino muttered.

Sakura hugged her and went back to Gaara. He watched her approach, and then together they walked back to Sakura's apartment.

On the way there, Sakura tried to ignore the stares they were getting. But she noticed Lee walking towards them and hesitated. Gaara noticed and glanced at her, then up at the boy who had seen her and sped his pace, waving. "Sakura! Hey—oh. Gaara?"

Sakura quickly stepped in front of him and smiled weakly. She really didn't want to talk to him just now. "Oh, hey Lee. Do you want something? I'm kinda in a hurry."

He blinked away from Gaara and jerked his eyes to Sakura. "Yeah, I was wondering if you wanted to consider a date on Friday?"

She almost smiled, thinking of the image of her sitting at a table with Lee, with Gaara sitting at her side. "I'm sorry…but I'm busy that day."

Lee didn't even twitch. "Alright then, how bout Saturday, or Sunday for lunch?" He smiled warmly at her, and she responded with a weak one.

Gaara was getting annoyed, and it was obvious that Sakura was uncomfortable. He easily slid his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder. She stiffened immediately and almost pulled away, but Gaara was already talking. "Lee, she will be busy all those days—with me."

Sakura's face was now red as Gaara's hair, but she remained in his arms, a little shocked. Lee blinked, and before he could say anything, Gaara was leading her to her apartment. Once they turned the corner, his hands lingered a bit, then he moved away from her.

Sakura stared at him while they walked. "What was that? 'She'll be busy, with me?' Gaara…" she groaned.

"Oh, calm down. You didn't want to go with him, so I gave you an excuse…a handsome one." Gaara was quite pleased with himself, not only did he manage to escape a rather awkward situation, but he confused the hell out of that Lee kid and made Sakura freak out, once again.

Sakura looked down, blushing. "What, so now you're going to be my knight in shinning armor?" she grumbled sarcastically. "Cause you don't really seem the type."

"No, I'd just rather not be stuck with you two making goo-goo eyes at each other," he said, but suddenly his expression changed. He stepped in front of her, bracing his arm on the wall of the building at her side. Sakura looked up at him. He leaned close, up to her face, his whispered, "Now I'm curious. Just what kind of type do I seem?"

Sakura backed up, alarmed by his sudden closeness. "What are you talking about?" she stuttered, her back against the wall.

Gaara chuckled, seeming amused by her flustered appearance. He leaned in closer, brushing his chest against her, and said quietly, "Answer the question."

Sakura blinked and looked away from his eyes—they were too distracting. "Um…well, you seem more like the…" she stopped, embarrassed of what she was saying.

"Go on," Gaara murmured.

"More like the dark and mysterious type," she mumbled, staring at her feet.

Gaara sounded disappointed. "You're not very imaginative." His face darkened and he removed himself. Gaara grumbled to himself, and walked to her apartment in long strides. Sakura stared after him for a second, her heart thumping like crazy. What the hell was that?!

But soon Gaara reached the barrier, and looked over his shoulder in a glare. That was the Gaara she knew, and she quickly ran after him. When she walked into her apartment, Gaara was already on the couch, his eyes closed. Sakura frowned…what was going on with him? First, last night, and then just now…

"I'll make some lunch," Sakura announced, earning an 'hn' from the red head. Rubbing her arm, Sakura reached for her unprepared food. Gaara turned the television on and began flipping through the channels. She glanced up every now and then, but had no idea what the show was about. Gaara didn't seem to be watching it either; his eyes were directed at the TV, but he didn't seem to really be paying attention. She wondered what he was thinking about as she set the finished plates down and put away her knife.

She walked over to the couch and slipped over the back, passing Gaara his food. His eyes glanced up at her, and then he began to hungrily eat. Sakura curled her legs up to her chest and watched the show for a second, then reached for the remote, which was on Gaara's lap. She quickly stopped herself, registering where it was, and pulled away. Gaara shook his head and dropped the remote onto the couch right by Sakura. She nodded to him and changed the channel onto a movie that was playing.

There you go! Chapter three. You know the drill, please comment.


	4. Chapter 4

Yay! Fixed! Here we go, chapter four!

They watched the movie silence, both of the plates set on the small table in front of the couch. Sakura had drawn a small blanket on herself, and was just dozing off. Gaara glanced at the clock, it was just after noon. He turned off the TV. "Can you go to your room?"

"Why?"

"I want a shower."

"Oh, alright." She fought the blush on her cheeks and stood from the couch, allowing Gaara to go to the bathroom. She sat on her bed and stared at the ceiling, trying not to listen to the rushing water. Sakura wondered what Lee had done after they had walked off, and if Ino had already told everyone about her and Gaara…there were a lot of things to think about, but there was so little to do. There wasn't anything that needed to be done…and she didn't have any plans…Gaara obviously didn't have anything to do…

She groaned and rolled onto her side, and stared. Gaara was walking in, a towel on his hips, his hair dripping, and he picked up his pack, ruffling through it with one hand and pulled out a set of pants. He began to put them on under the towel without noticing her, and Sakura rolled over to face the wall.

"Shouldn't you take one?" he asked, and Sakura looked back at him. The towel now rested on his head, and his chiseled chest was still damp.

Realizing he had asked a question, she said quickly, "No, I take mine at night. And besides, the water would be too cold now."

"Oh." He grabbed the towel and rubbed it against his head, then threw it down, shaking out his hair. Sakura stood and grabbed the towel off the rug and looked up at Gaara. She didn't realize how close she had moved to him, she was right up against his chest. Taking a step to the side, Sakura asked, "Gaara, do you have any other dirty clothes?"

"Why?"

"Because I'm going to wash them." She turned away from him and grabbed her hamper, emptying it into a laundry basket. Gaara threw in some of his clothes and stepped aside, allowing Sakura to move through the door. They quickly reached the laundry mat and she grabbed a washer, dumping the clothes in. As they waited, Sakura felt embarrassed—the other people were staring at Gaara. He didn't seem aware of it and leaned against the wall, watching Sakura. She really wished his eyes weren't on her, the villagers would notice—and they did. She saw how they were glancing from her to Gaara, and some of the women were whispering behind their hands.

She jumped up when the ding sounded, and she quickly piled the damp clothes into the laundry basket and decided to let them dry at home, rather than have to stay any longer in the public eye.

Back at her apartment, Sakura set up the dry rack in the bathroom. Just as she stepped in, she glanced at the shower. There was sand on the drain, on the tile, and even on the handle. She sighed and shook her head. At least the sand didn't get in her bed.

She squeezed as much water as she could into the shower and then hung every piece of clothing on the rack. When she saw her panties, Sakura frowned and quickly hung it on the back, hoping that Gaara wouldn't see the collection of her under garments all hiding behind the other clothes. She grabbed another piece of clothing without looking at it and squeezed it out, thinking. How come she hadn't seen any of Gaara's boxers? _Omigod_, she realized, having just put away the last of the clothes, _he doesn't wear them!_ Blushing, she quickly left the room.

Being at the laundry mat had taken longer than she thought, and it was just getting dark. "Gaara?"

No response.

"Do you want dinner now?"

"Alright," he emerged from her room and slipped onto the couch. Sakura quickly fixed the two of them dinner and began to eat, Gaara sitting a seat away from her. They ate in silence, as always. Sakura wanted to fill the silence, but she didn't know what to say. Soon the food was gone and she washed the dishes. She slipped into the shower as Gaara sat in her room. She could sense a routine in the making and sighed, rubbing the suds off her body. She changed into her pajamas, hoping that Ino would drop off her new ones soon.

When she walked into her room, Gaara was sitting on the edge of the bed, leaning over his legs, elbows on his knees with his head buried in his hands.

"Gaara?" she asked, nervous.

His head jerked up, his face grim. "What?" he said wearily, falling back onto the bed and closing his eyes. Sakura warily stepped across the room, bringing one knee onto the bed.

"Are you alright?"

Gaara sighed and didn't say anything.

Sakura was unsure whether this would be breaking the boundary, but she braced her arm on his other side and leaned over him, begging with her eyes. She wanted to know what was wrong. "Gaara…?"

He blinked and stared at her. Her hair fell in front of her face, and she was looking down at him with…concern? He quickly sat up, forcing Sakura to straighten, but they were still close. She didn't remove herself from her position—which was nearly in his lap—and looked up at him, stubborn and worried.

Gaara didn't like the concern in her eyes, it was too different, and it made him uncomfortable. He growled, pushing her away. Sakura almost fell to the floor before she caught herself and glared at him. "Excuse me for being worried!" she snapped.

Gaara hesitated. Worried? Why would anyone worry about him? "I don't need you to be worried about me," he responded coldly, standing up and moving to the window. Sakura scowled. Jerk! She knew better than to try to leave—she would have to stand out in the hallway because of the barrier, so she instead crawled into bed and threw the covers over her head. Immature—sure, but it was all she could do.

Gaara was tempted to jump out the window, but he didn't know how far he could go due to the jutsu…so he contented himself with glaring out of it. Both of them stayed like that, Sakura curled uncomfortably under the blanket, while Gaara stared out at the moon. Sakura could understand why he had reacted like that, he wasn't used to it. She quickly calmed down and pulled the blanket away, sitting up.

"Gaara…"

"I'm not going to tell you," he said flatly.

"That's fine," Sakura said quietly. She wasn't going to let him stand there all night just because she made him uncomfortable.

Gaara blinked. He wasn't expecting that. Turning to look at her, he saw that she didn't meet his eyes, which was fine by him. He didn't want to see that same thing in her gaze.

"Come to bed." Wow, that sounded odd coming out of her mouth. She blushed and looked away, embarrassed. Hopefully he didn't take that the wrong way.

Gaara looked at her warily. Slowly he walked over and sat down, his back facing her. Sakura watched him, wondering if he was going to have another outburst. She bit her lip and was about to reach out to him, when she remembered what had happened the previous night. "Just lie down," she said wearily and rolled over. She felt the mattress depress and knew that he had done what she asked, and a small smile slipped to her lips.

Both of them were soon asleep. But, as always, just an hour later Gaara woke up, but it didn't feel like just normal restlessness. Something had woken him up. He ran a hand through his hair and glanced at his side. Sakura was turning fitfully in her sleep, her face twisted. He stared at her, not sure what to do. But he certainly wouldn't be able to fall back asleep with her like that beside him.

He sighed and shook her shoulder. Sakura burst up, crying out loudly. Gaara jerked back, alarmed. Her eyes were wide and fearful, and they were brimming with tears. She took a deep breath and looked around, trying to calm down.

"Are you alright?" he asked, irritated.

Sakura nodded, ruffling her hair. "Yeah…" she panted. "Just a bad dream…"

Gaara watched her for a moment, unsure. She still looked pretty shaken up. "What was it?"

Sakura looked down, not replying.

"Ah. It was about me, wasn't it?" Gaara asked.

She hesitated. "Not…exactly. You were in it…but you weren't…"

"Then what was I doing?" he asked, trying to calm her down so he could go back to sleep.

"Uh…" Sakura blinked and felt a blush rising in her cheeks. Praying that he wouldn't notice, images of her dream flashed through her mind. It had started with the two of them walking in the forest, and Sakura had tripped. Gaara had tried to catch her, but when he grabbed her shirt it had ripped, leaving her in just a bra. Gaara had actually blushed and gave her his shirt. "Nothing really," she muttered.

In her dream, just when they stood back up, they had gotten attacked. At least twenty ninjas had appeared, and the two of them were quickly overwhelmed. That is what had woken her up, but the beginning of her dream bothered her much more. She calmed herself and glanced back at Gaara.

He was watching her curiously, having noticed her cheeks flush. "What is it?"

"It's nothing…" Sakura shook her head. "I'm sorry for waking you up."

Gaara hesitated, then settled back down. Sakura waited for a moment, and then lay down, staring at the ceiling. Sleep quickly overtook both of them.

Sorry its short, but I wanted to get something out there for you to read since my absence.


	5. Chapter 5

I expected more of you fangirls to add colorful comments once you read the Gaara doesn't wear boxers part…I made that all for you! Oh well. Read on.

Gaara woke up and groaned—he still wasn't used to sleeping in such a soft bed. Opening his eyes, he saw that Sakura was still asleep, and they had moved a lot closer while they had slept, Sakura's head was just by his shoulder. He sat up and watched her, bored. There wasn't really anything to do, so he just sat there, waiting for her to wake up. He decided not to shake her awake, she might get angry and burn his breakfast.

He looked down at her body, the blanket resting on her waist. Her pajama shirt had lifted in her sleep and was cut low, revealing her tight stomach and the beginning curves of her chest. He reached out and trailed his finger over the top of her breasts, then down between the two and continued all the way down to her shorts. Gaara frowned. What the hell was he doing?

She stirred and Gaara reluctantly pulled his hand away. She mumbled something as she opened her eyes. Yawning, she sat up and ran a hand through her hair. Sakura frowned and shook her head, trying to get rid of the grogginess.\

"I'm going to take a shower…" Gaara left the room. Sakura sat there for a moment, then stretched and moved off the bed, moving to her dresser. She pulled out a drawer and pulled out her everyday outfit, slipping into it.

Sakura turned to the kitchen, starting to prepare breakfast. Gaara walked in, now dressed in black pants. And that was it. His chest was left bare, and Sakura refused to let the blush creep on her cheeks. "Gaara, I know you have plenty of shirts, I washed them."

"So?" he asked dully, sitting down and waited for food.

"Then put one on!" she said over her shoulder as she turned back to her work.

"Why?"

Sakura sighed loudly, passing Gaara his food and stood while she ate hers, leaning against the counter, watching him. Was he teasing her? Why? When she was done Sakura quickly retreated into her room and came back to the kitchen, throwing Gaara a shirt. He caught it and shoved it over his head, looking at her quizzically.

"I think that we should train, don't you? I mean, if we get attacked again, we should practice fighting with our condition, don't you think?"

"I can manage," he grumbled.

"Gaara, I haven't trained since we were bound together. I want to be prepared." She walked to the training fields, Gaara reluctantly following her. They did a quick bout, Gaara easily winning, but he was surprised how much she had improved.

Panting, Sakura looked up at Gaara. Well, she certainly wouldn't have to worry about getting attacked while he was around.

"Sakura!"

Both of them turned to see Hinata and Naruto walking toward them. Sakura blinked—Hinata finally fessed up to Naruto? But she noticed Hinata's nervous look and how Naruto acted as always.

"Hey you guys," Sakura said. "What's up?"

"Well, we saw you guys training, and wondered if we could join you."

"N-Naruto told me about the jutsu," Hinata said. **A/N: I have no time for her speech problem and won't do it. Just pretend she can't talk.** "You guys should learn how to fight together."

Sakura grinned, glancing at Gaara. He only scowled and looked away. "Alright. You two against me and Gaara?"

"Sure!" Naruto shrugged off his jacket and threw it aside, gaining a blush from Hinata. He lunged at Gaara, and began their fight. Hinata watched carefully until Sakura jumped at her.

The fight went on, until Naruto drew Gaara away from Sakura. The red head leapt forward, but slammed into the barrier and fell back. Sakura did likewise, and they fell on top of each other. Sakura blushed madly; her hand had fallen into his lap. He grunted, pushing her off him and in the same movement met the kick Naruto had thrown at him. Hinata gave Sakura a hand up, and took a fighting stance, continuing their bout.

Once they were done Naruto suggested they go to the ramen shop, and Hinata's face lit up. The four of them walked to the shop, Gaara remained silent the whole way with his arms crossed and stayed as far back as he could. Sakura tried her best to keep the conversation towards Hinata, and trying to make Naruto aware that she was quiet available. Naruto didn't seem to notice, he was too excited about getting some ramen.

While they ate, Sakura glanced worriedly at Gaara. He hadn't said a word, and wasn't eating much. He was staring at his bowl, looking bored. Once they finished, Sakura advised Naruto to walk Hinata home, which he did. Sakura watched them go and then turned to Gaara.

As they walked back to her apartment, Gaara remained in the same withdrawn state. Sure, he usually was quiet, but he had a weird look in his eye. "Um, Gaara?"

He didn't even look at her.

"Are you feeling alright?" His mood reminded her of their last fight.

No response.

"Are you hungry? You didn't eat much; I could make you something…"

Nothing.

Sakura shook her head. If she kept pushing him there would probably be another fight, and she didn't want him yelling at her in public.

"That seafood stuff you made…" Gaara said.

Sakura smiled up at him. "Alright."

A little while later the two of them where sitting at the table, finishing the pasta. Just as Sakura was cleaning her dish, there was a knock on the door and Ino stepped in, holding a bag. "Here's your clothes, and I brought over a movie, it must be boring just sitting around like this." Sakura thanked her and Ino passed her the pajamas and quickly left, saying that she had a date. Sakura asked who, but Ino only smiled and stepped out.

Sighing, Sakura glanced at the clock. And blinked, they had trained for a while, it was already eight. Perfect time to watch the movie. She pulled it out of the bag and groaned.

"What is it?" Gaara asked, though he didn't seem really interested.

"Some weird movie about zombies…" she sighed. "Great."

There was nothing else to do, so Sakura reluctantly popped it in and turned on the TV. She and Gaara sat on separate sides of the couch, Gaara looking bored as he watched the blood and gore flash over the screen, and Sakura jumped every now and then. Every time she did though, Gaara would glance at her, annoyed. "This movie isn't that scary, calm down."

"Excuse me for getting a little creeped out when someone bites through a person's neck," she hissed back, her eyes glued to the screen. Why the hell couldn't she look away?

"Oh please, that is so fake."

"Fake or not, its weird."

"Whatever."

Sakura almost smiled once they realized what had happened. The two of them had been arguing like friends over a movie. Well, not friends, but at least Gaara was being nicer. She giggled, and now Gaara stared at her.

"Just a second ago you were talking about how scary this is, and now you're laughing?"

"Never mind, just watch," she said through a smile.

The movie done, Sakura stepped into the shower while Gaara waited in her room. She quickly dried her hair and looked through the bag. "Ino…" she groaned. In her hands was a very small silk black nightie, with lace trim. Praying that Ino had bought that as a joke, Sakura looked through the rest of the bag and sighed with relief. The other pairs were much more sensible, with tank tops and warm matching pants. She changed into white pair and brought the bag into her room, putting away her pajamas.

Gaara watched her from the window, frowning.

Sakura noticed his expression and asked as she crawled into bed, "What? Something wrong?"

"Nothing…" he said and climbed in after her. Sakura could tell he didn't turn his back to her like he usually did and wondered why, quickly glancing over her shoulder. He was lying on his back, eyes turned up to the ceiling, but when he saw her looking at him, he turned his gaze to her without moving his head. "What?"

Sakura felt a little silly for being caught. "Oh, never mind." She turned over and faced the wall. She could still feel Gaara's eyes on her though and shifted a bit, until she fell asleep.

Gaara, on the other hand, couldn't fall asleep at all. He must have been lying there for at least two hours, until he heard a sudden whimper. He glanced at Sakura, and she was having another nightmare. Her eyes ran restlessly under their lids, and she shook her head from side to side. It didn't look like she would wake up any time soon, so he sat up and shook her arm.

Sakura burst from her dream with a scream and sat there, trembling. Gaara stared at her, a little alarmed. Taking a deep breath, Sakura closed her eyes.

"You alright?" Gaara asked, this time with a small bit of actual interest.

"Fine, fine." Sakura ran a hand through her hair. "Just a dream about that stupid movie." She felt a little childish, getting nightmares from horror flicks.

Gaara rolled his eyes and settled back into the bed. Both of them managed to fall asleep in the remaining hours left for dark.

Gaara woke reluctantly, not opening his eyes. He was warm and comfortable, so getting up wasn't on his to do list. But he knew that soon he would need to and opened his eyes, immediately tensing. Sakura was curled up against his chest. Her warm breath danced over his neck, and some of her hair was tickling his skin.

Now he knew why he felt so warm.

He shifted slightly to remove himself, but Sakura wasn't having any of it. Her arm reached out and ran over his stomach, securing herself firmly against him. She mumbled in her sleep and snuggled her face into the crook of his neck. Gaara stiffened and tried to think, but the warmth of her arm and breath was very distracting. He realized that he liked it, but quickly pushed away that thought and shifted again. A frown crossed Sakura's face and she tightened her grip, moving herself so her torso was on top of his chest, resting her head on his opposite shoulder. Her other hand moved to his neck.

Gaara fought to control himself, the first time he had to because of a sexual urge. He was shocked that he was aroused, but he figured that would happen to any guy—even him—if he could feel the warmth of a young girl on top of him, her breasts pressing against him. Sakura would not be happy if she woke up with him on top of her—she wouldn't be able to kill him, but she would sure as hell try. It didn't help that she was tightening her grip, bringing her body closer to his, and Gaara clenched his jaw as his mind scrambled around helplessly, trying to fend off the blaring demand that his body was crying out for.

He didn't want her to wake up right now, that would be too awkward, so he gently flipped her, setting her down into the bed. Just to ease his urge, he leaned in and breathed in her scent, nose brushing her petal-soft skin.

Sakura woke with a jerk, but Gaara was already gone. As she looked around, she heard the shower being turned on and relaxed. She couldn't remember her dream, but Sakura was positive that it had been a good, calm one—completely zombie free. She thought about getting dressed, but realized she had sweat slightly in her sleep and decided to wait for Gaara so she could take a shower of her own. As soon as Gaara walked back into her room, not looking at her, she hoped into the shower and quickly cleaned herself, then turned off the water and pulled a towel around her.

Gaara sat on the bed, trying not to think about what had happened and failed quite miserably. He easily recalled how warm and soft she had been, and the pleasure he had felt. Gaara had never felt that before, and he was a little bothered. Sure, his older brother had taken it upon himself to awkwardly explain what sex was and sexual attraction, but Gaara never thought he would experience it. He though that only came with love, and he sure as hell didn't think of Sakura in a caring way.

He groaned and took off his towel, pulling on some pants.

That's when he heard her scream.

Sorry for the cliffhanger, but it was the only spot that was fitting to stop the chapter.


	6. Chapter 6

Here we go! Let's see what happens to Sakura, shall we?

Sakura was just pulling on a towel, humming to herself. But suddenly she felt like something was wrong, and glanced up just in time to see the bathroom wall explode, letting out a terrified scream as tiny shrapnel glanced off her.

A ninja was just pulling himself through the gaping hole as Sakura reached for her kunai, then realized she was in her towel, not her training clothes. The ninja snickered as Sakura steeled herself to fight. But suddenly the door was flung open, and at the same time the ninja leapt forward and struck Sakura, sending her flying backwards. She landed heavily on Gaara, knocking both of them out into the hallway and into the hallway wall, sprawling on the floor.

Then many things happened at once. Gaara growled threateningly and raised his hand, sand quickly engulfed the ninja while he used his other arm to secure Sakura between his legs and against his chest, clutching to her. The front door opened and Naruto popped in, then froze at the sight of Gaara—a half naked Gaara—clinging onto a soaking wet Sakura on the floor, and a sand wrapped ninja standing above them. Suddenly he understood and jumped to their aid, attacking the momentarily immobile attacker. Sakura pressed against Gaara's chest, stunned from the blow she had received, and watched as the blonde viciously stuck the ninja. Gaara let his sand die down as Naruto took over, and was relieved to see that Sakura wasn't badly injured, pulling her even closer to him.

When he heard her scream, Gaara's stomach twisted and he had snapped around, determined to protect Sakura. Now that she was in his arms, he didn't plan on letting go until everything was absolutely safe.

The ninja leapt out into the street and Naruto hesitated, then chased him once seeing that Sakura wasn't hurt. She watched him go, then after a moment realized the position she was in. The towel was barely covering her chest or lower body, and Sakura could feel his still-wet hair drip onto her. Sakura tried to sit up, but Gaara's arms had her pinned tightly to his body. "Gaara, we need to help him!"

"No, not until I know you're alright," he growled, standing. He didn't release his grip as he brought her to the bed and sat her down, looking her over. Sakura quickly took the chance to readjust her towel.

"I'm fine!" she protested.

"You're bleeding," he pointed out, moving in front of her to examine her shoulder.

The shrapnel of her bathroom wall had left multiple shallow cuts all over her body. Gaara saw that her shoulder had already stopped bleeding and looked her over, seeing the same could be said for most of her other wounds. But as he looked up at her face he leaned in, a determined look in his eye.

"What are you doing?!" Sakura cried as she leaned away, embarrassed. Gaara rolled his eyes and latched his hands onto her shoulders and pulled her back, licking her cheek where the blood hadn't yet stopped. Sakura gasped and struggled to get out of his grasp, but Gaara merely sat on her lap to keep her from moving and continued. Sakura fidgeted, her face glowing, positive that his tongue had brushed the side of her mouth. She decided to relax, fighting would do nothing, just as Gaara pushed her into the bed.

"What are you doing?!" she cried out again, but only earned the same reaction. He pulled away and looked her over once more, leaning back in to quickly lick a small cut on her arm. He knew that part of him was doing this to see her squirm, another to help ease his body, another wanting to taste her blood. But there was a small, tiny part of him that urged him to do this, to take care of her.

He pulled away once more and asked, "Are you alright?"

Sakura only stared at him, her face glowing even brighter. Seeing him straddling her waist, his hair damp and disheveled made her nervous. She was only too aware of her own situation and silently pleaded that she would be able to get some clothes on soon.

"Sakura, are you alright?" he pressed.

Sakura blinked. That was the first time he had called her by her name, and she saw a hint of worry in his eyes. Her awed stare confused him and his expression grew hard, demanding an answer. Remembering he asked a question, Sakura nodded numbly.

But Gaara saw the small spot of red that appeared on the towel over her stomach and scowled, reaching out to pull away the towel. "No!" Sakura yelped, squirming madly under him. Gaara scowled and climbed off, exiting the room. Sakura sat up, her heart going wild. He had almost…! But she pushed that aside and dressed, quickly into a shirt and pants, wiping the blood away on her stomach with the towel, turning around just in time to see Gaara reappear. He strode right over to her and locked his arm around her, pulling up her shirt to expose her belly, completely ignoring her loud protests. The cut was small so Gaara relaxed, and Sakura thanked kami that he hadn't decided to clean it in his special way. She looked up at him triumphantly. "See, I'm fine!"

But the look in his eyes made her stop. There was relief in them. But as soon as Gaara saw what she was doing he quickly guarded himself, glaring at her.

A moment passed.

"Gaara, you can let me go now."

He scowled and shook his head, "I don't think I can."

"But…"

Gaara cut her off. "You don't get it do you?"

"Get what?" Sakura asked, clueless.

Gaara's jaw tightened and he removed himself, walking into the kitchen, annoyed at himself for getting worked up. He shouldn't have acted like that. _Why _had he acted like that, _why _had he felt like that?

Sakura followed him out of habit and watched him carefully as he sat on the couch, glaring at the wall.

Naruto burst into the room, panting. "I'm sorry, I couldn't catch him, but I alerted Kakashi-sensei and he's gathering our trackers."

"Thanks, Naruto," Sakura said sincerely.

"Don't worry about it." Naruto sensed the mood in the room and did his best to lighten it up continued, "But when I first came in here I was a little confused to see Gaara holding on to you, for a second there I thought he was kissing you."

"What?" Gaara demanded. "You think that I would do that?"

Naruto blinked, a little surprised at his sudden injection. "Uh…"

But Sakura got angry. "Excuse me?" she snapped at the red head. "What, is it that hard to even think of kissing me?" she demanded, insulted. "Oh, no, kissing it way too out there but you can just lick me whenever you want?"

Naruto's head snapped around to stare at Sakura, his mind racing to figure out what she had said. But Sakura continued barreling on. "And what the hell was that anyway? It came out of no where, do you have any idea at how alarmed I was when you licked me?!"

Gaara sighed. He was not going to start yelling. "I was just making sure you were alright, so calm down. What we need to worry about right now is that ninja. This attack means that they know where we live."

Sakura didn't want to stop yelling at him, she was too frustrated. But she bit her lip and looked away, refusing to start having a tantrum. "What the hell are we going to do about my wall?" she moaned, suddenly remembering the destruction.

"You can stay at my place," Naruto suggested.

The last thing Gaara wanted to do was sleep in the same room as the yammering half-wit, but before he could do anything, Sakura smiled at him and said, "Really? Oh, thanks Naruto, that would be perfect!"

_Oh great._ Gaara settled deeper into the couch. He liked Sakura's place, it was clean, and everything smelt like her. And he liked the privacy. But he had to admit, he didn't exactly want to stay in a place where showering would mean letting people on the street watch you bathe.

Sakura didn't notice his scowl and chimed, "Just let me get some things!" She dashed into her room. Gaara waited a moment, then reluctantly followed her. Sakura was already folding things into a laundry basket and he silently watched, catching a quick glimpse of some underclothes. He then walked forward and pushed some of his own clothes into his pack and went back into the kitchen where Naruto was waiting with a nervous expression. Now that he was thinking about it, his apartment wasn't that big, and now he was getting two roommates.

But then Sakura was there, hefting the laundry basket that was piled with sheets and a pillow, some shampoo, clothes, and other things. Gaara gave her an odd look and followed Naruto out, Sakura hurrying behind him. When they reached the street, Naruto took a sharp turn and marched them down a crowded road. "Since it's so early, why don't you just drop off your things and we can go training?" he asked. The other two agreed.

Gaara glanced behind him at Sakura and stopped. She almost bumped into him and hesitated, looking up with a confused expression. He merely twisted and took the basket from her hands and continued. Sakura stood on the spot, staring at him, awed. Since when was Gaara nice to her?

He looked back and saw she hadn't moved, glaring. "What are you waiting for? Come on!"

She nodded and ran after him, shaking her head. Maybe he hit his head during the attack. Soon they were walking through a door to a surprisingly clean apartment. Well, by Naruto's standards it was clean. It was smaller than Sakura's, one bed, a couch, and the kitchen all in one room while another door led to the bathroom. Gaara set down the basket on the floor by the bed and swiftly walked out the door with the others.

Just as the training grounds were in sight, Kakashi and Hinata came into view. Both of them saw the trio and greeted them. Kakashi said that a team was tracking down the ninja who had attacked, and that they thought he was from a village to the east. "Anyway, why are you here?" he asked.

"Training!" Naruto replied.

A smirk came to Kakashi's eye. "Oh? I was thinking about your situation, Gaara and Sakura, and I think I can help you during training."

"We don't need help," Gaara said.

"Oh, but its fun," Kakashi protested. "And I want to see how well you react."

"Kakashi-sensei…" Sakura said cautiously. "Just what are you planning to do?"

"Just make your bond even tighter," he said, and before the two could say anything, there was a rope in his hand and he had tied Sakura's and Gaara's wrists together.

Gaara scowled. "We don't need to be any more bound together than we already are," he growled, tugging at the rope. But Kakashi must have applied some sort of jutsu and Gaara couldn't break it off. He yanked and Sakura winced, he was beginning to hurt her.

"Gaara, why don't we just fight like this," she asked. "Kakashi-sensei will undo it once we're done, _right_?" she added forcefully, turning to her teacher. He only smiled.

Gaara growled and looked away. Sakura got an idea. "Hey, why don't you do the same to Naruto and Hinata, so it's even," she suggested, holding back a smile.

"Oh!" Hinata turned red. "No, that's alright, really—"

"You're on!" Naruto declared and took Hinata's hand—making Hinata's cheeks an odd contrast to her pale eyes—and held it out to Kakashi. He quickly did the same thing to them, then backed away and declared the fight had begun.

Sakura quickly calculated that she and Gaara had a better chance of winning. Naruto liked fighting all over the place, and Hinata relied on both of her hands while fighting.

That didn't mean that the fight wasn't hard. All four of them had trouble adjusting to the fact that they couldn't move wherever they wanted suddenly and had to keep at a slow pace. After a thorough beating on both sides, Kakashi got bored and announced that the bout was over and walked over to Sakura, quickly undoing the rope. Then he moved to Hinata and frowned. "What? It won't come off…" he grumbled.

Hinata flashed her panicking eyes up to him and Naruto frowned.

Kakashi kept up with his little act, wondering how Hinata would handle the situation. "Oh, I must have wasted too much chakra chasing after that ninja…I'm sorry Naruto, Hinata, but I'll have to undo it tomorrow morning…"

Hinata made a small gurgling noise and stared at her feet. Naruto glanced at her worriedly, then shrugged. "Hinata, I'm not that bad."

She jerked up. "N-no! It isn't you, you're wonderful, it's just that…" she began mumbling excuses too quick for anyone to understand. Gaara scowled and looked at Sakura, who was smiling in amusement.

"Alright, then I declare movie night!" she said loudly. Hinata threw a look that was completely panicked and stared at Naruto. "To Naruto's!" She grabbed Naruto's arm and began dragging him behind her, Hinata stumbling behind. Gaara waited a moment, then followed the group reluctantly.

Hm...the licking scene just popped in my head. Sorry if it was a little out there. Reading all of my comments from the previous chapter, a lot of you thought that Sakura had seen him naked! I wonder how Gaara would handle that…


	7. Chapter 7

Hm…this story is turning out to be much longer than I had originally thought it would be. Hope you guys don't mind…

Back at Naruto's Hinata had calmed slightly and everyone but Sakura was sitting on the couch, watching the previews of a movie. Sakura waited for the beep and plucked the popcorn bags from the nearly broken microwave and hopped onto the couch. It was meant to be able to hold three people, so they had to squeeze a bit, but it wasn't much of a problem because Naruto had demanded when they had first gotten back that Hinata stop trying to sit on the completely opposite side of the couch and had pulled her against his hip, much to Hinata's distress and flustered pleasure. Gaara leaned with his elbow on the couch arm, away from the two of them, but shifted so Sakura had more room. She glanced at him nervously, knowing he couldn't be pleased with the close quarters.

Once Naruto had taken one of the popcorn bags from her she leaned in and whispered, "Gaara, do you want me to move? There isn't much room…"

He scowled. He didn't want to admit it, but he liked the warmth she gave off. So subtly that Sakura didn't notice his movement, he settled his hand on her shoulder lightly. Sakura blinked and smiled at him, flattered at his sudden show of affection. But quickly Gaara pulled his hand away and turned back to the screen, reaching for the popcorn.

The movie was—once again—a horror flick. Sakura and Hinata were struggling to hide their discomfort but Naruto was totally getting into it. He was leaning forward, stuffing popcorn into his mouth—occasionally missing—while Gaara only stared at the screen with a blank face, barely blinking.

Sakura could tell she was handling her fear better than Hinata, who was slowly sinking deeper into the couch as if wishing it would absorb her. Suddenly a giant, knife-wielding brute popped up in the screen and before Sakura could blink, Hinata had screamed and threw herself into Naruto's lap, sending popcorn everywhere. Her motion had knocked Sakura against Gaara and he caught her easily, watching the other two. Sakura turned and saw Hinata pressing her face into Naruto's shoulder, her arms wrapped firmly around his neck, and Naruto was blushing slightly with an awed look on his face.

Sakura quickly stood and grabbed Gaara's arm, tugging him to follow her. She led him out of the apartment and closed the door behind them. She leaned against the wall and calmed down while Gaara watched her curiously. She saw his stare and said, "To give them time alone. I doubt Hinata will say anything, but she certainly wouldn't with spectators listening in."

Gaara hesitated. "Why do you want to help her?"

"Because she's my friend. And it's always a good thing to help people, Gaara." She smiled at him.

He stared at her. "Just because she's your friend?"

"Yes," Sakura gave him an odd look, then realized he probably had no friends. "See, I'd want to help Hinata, or Naruto, or you if you need it."

"Me, need help?" Gaara snorted.

"Well you might not need it, but wouldn't you help me if I needed you?" she tried to show that she trusted him. Sakura had a feeling like hearing that would be important to him.

Gaara leaned back, crossing his arms. "And when have you needed me? What makes you think that I would help you?"

Sakura hung her head at his sudden chilly air. "You've already helped me," she pointed out.

"When?"

"Just this morning, remember?"

Gaara blinked. He had acted out of instinct, he hadn't even thought about it when he protected her. "I guess you're right," he muttered.

Fighting back her smile at his first admitted defeat, she said, "See? You protected me, your friend."

A silent moment passed, and then Gaara looked back at her intently. He leaned in and reached out to her face. He set his hand in her hair and muttered, "You got some popcorn in your hair." He pulled back, tossing the renegade piece of popcorn onto the ground.

"Thanks," she said. For some stupid reason she had gotten nervous when he had leaned in close.

Whatever Gaara was going to respond with was cut off when the two of them heard Hinata cry out. They spun around and then heard, "Naruto!"

Sakura frowned and Gaara raised his eyebrows. "It sounds like he's hurting her…" Sakura said, confused.

"Ah! I'm sorry Hinata, did that hurt?" Naruto asked.

Sakura turned to Gaara and asked, "What do you think they're doing?" Gaara had an idea, but he would rather not say it in front of Sakura.

"Naruto, stop moving!"

"Just hold still, I'll get it out…" Naruto grumbled.

Sakura's mind suddenly clicked and she was close to having a heart attack. She burst into the room, but neither Naruto or Hinata noticed. Gaara followed behind, thoroughly interested.

Naruto was sitting awkwardly with Hinata in his lap, thoroughly flustered. Apparently Hinata had gotten her hair stuck on one of his shirt buttons and was as red as Gaara's hair, tears in her eyes as she yanked at her hair.

Suddenly Naruto yelped. "Hinata! You scratched me!"

"Ah, I'm sorry! Are you alright?"

Sakura let out a sigh of relief and walked over, firmly taking Hinata's captured hair in one hand and carefully unwound it. Hinata burst free with a thankful look and glanced at Naruto, who was watching her. Slyly she whispered in her ear, "Did you say anything?"

"No…but he…didn't seem to mind," she whispered back. "I hugged him, Sakura!" she said excitedly. Thankfully Naruto was already watching the movie again and not listening to their quiet conversation.

"Yeah, I saw that," Sakura said, "So did Gaara."

"No…" Hinata leaned closer. "When you left, I-I hugged him. I did it!"

Sakura grinned at her friend. "So my little Hinata is growing up," she said teasingly. Hinata blushed and turned back to the movie, and Sakura settled back down by Gaara. She could even in the dim lighting that Naruto nervously looked at Hinata every couple of minutes. Gaara also noticed and glanced at Sakura, who now had her eyes on the movie.

The movie ended and the room went black for a moment before Naruto turned on the light. "Well, that was lame," he said disappointedly.

"Who kills off every single main character and yet still has a happy ending?" Sakura demanded. Not only was the movie terrifying, it was stupid too. "What do you think, Hinata?"

But Hinata didn't answer her. She was glancing at Naruto, to Gaara, to the bed, the couch, and Sakura. The latter quickly understood. "Naruto, how are we going to sleep?" she asked.

He frowned. "I hadn't thought of that…um…" he glanced around. "Well, before we got stuck together, I though me and Gaara could take the couch and Sakura could have the bed, but now that we're like this…"

Gaara smirked. He had gotten used to sleeping with Sakura.

"I'm sorry," Hinata said, bowing her head. "This is my fault."

"No, it's not," he grumbled, still looking around as if an answer would appear out of nowhere.

Sakura decided to jump in. "Gaara and I could take the couch," she offered.

Hinata spun around. "You don't mind sleeping together?" she asked, shocked.

"Not really."

"So you guys can have the bed," Gaara said.

"Alright…if you say so," Naruto said. He walked toward the bed and Hinata—now in complete panic mode—went with him. Sakura had to hide her smile as she and Gaara settled down, each with their head on different sides of the couch.

Just as she was falling asleep, Sakura thought_, this has got to be the strangest sleepover I've ever had_. She flinched a bit when she felt a cloth slip over her, but then realized that Gaara was only settling a blanket onto both of them. She smiled at him again, about to thank him, but then she slipped into sleep.

Gaara watched her for a moment, deep in thought. He didn't understand the emotions he was feeling for her and was wondering what was going to happen. Hell, if the stuttering, blundering Hinata could hug Naruto, why did he feel so uncomfortable just being nice? He wanted to be kind to her, but he always felt awkward when he did…

Sakura shifted in her sleep and her foot pressed against his thigh. With a sigh, he pulled it away and fell asleep.

In the middle of the night, Gaara was once again woken by Sakura's cry. She was sitting up, shivering and looking around fearfully. She wasn't loud enough to have wake up the others and he sat up, without thinking putting a hand on her shoulder. "The dreams again?"

Sakura felt his touch and suddenly hugged him. Gaara stiffened considerably, one urge telling him to shove her away and another telling him to embrace her. "Sakura?" he asked tightly.

She suddenly remembered where she was and pulled away. "I'm sorry, you were just so warm…"

Gaara then realized how cold she was. She was trembling against him and her fingers were like ice. He was a little chilly—the sheet was really thin—but he didn't feel like he was outside in the snow. "Come here," he said gruffly, wrapping his arm around her and pulling her to his side of the couch. She gave a small yelp, but he ignored her and quickly shifted her under the sheet so she lay between him and the back of the couch. Sakura gave in and curled up against him, not even getting bothered when he set one large and very warm arm around her. She pressed against his chest, still shivering, and sighed into his skin. A groan rippled through him but he clamped his mouth shut, instead flicking his glance at the bed.

Naruto was lying there, his free hand scratching his stomach and his legs spread out. Hinata lay beside him, curled with her back in the curve of his side, while both of their bound hands were in front of her. Gaara rolled his eyes and turned back to Sakura. She was watching him with big eyes, her face curious.

"What?"

She cocked her head. "What are you thinking right now?"

"Why do you want to know?"

With a shrug of her shoulders, she said, "Just curious."

"Well, I'm wishing that you wouldn't squirm around so much," he chuckled at her embarrassed look, "and wondering what your dream was about."

Sakura grew still and frowned. Her voice was quiet. "Well, we were together, and then we were attacked. You were dying and then you…" Sakura's face flushed and she shook her head. While Gaara had been dying in her dream, he had told her to save herself, and it was too un-Gaara like, it was just weird.

"What is it?"

"It's nothing," she muttered.

Gaara put a large hand under her chin and drew her face up. He liked touching her, and every chance he got he would. "Tell me."

"You said that—"

"Naruto."

Gaara and Sakura looked up and saw that Hinata was talking in her sleep. "Hm…Naruto…"

Sakura shook her head and tucked back against Gaara's chest, thoroughly enjoying the warmth he gave off.

Gaara decided to let her off easy and rubbed her back. He was determined to get used to close contact, and it made it all the easier to start with Sakura. They listened to Hinata's mumbling as they fell asleep. Good thing Naruto was a heavy sleeper, or else he would be thoroughly embarrassed and shocked at her words.

There you go, the seventh chapter. I'm a little annoyed, I can't figure how to heat up the relationship between Gaara and Sakura while still trying to keep them in character, which I'm not even doing well now. But heat it up I will…hopefully soon.


	8. Chapter 8

Thanks for all of the comments! But a lot of you are suggesting scean ideas for this story, and I wish you wouldn't do that. Not that I don't like them, but its just that I use my own ideas, not someone else's.

Waking up first, Sakura reluctantly opened her eyes. She was confused for a moment, then realized her vision was white because she had her face nestled into Gaara's neck. The funny thing was, she wasn't even embarrassed. She sat up with some difficulty; Gaara's arm was wrapped firmly around her. Carefully removing the limb, Sakura turned to look at the bed and grinned. Hinata was curled up on the bed, the blanket enveloping her, while her hand hung over the side of the bed and Naruto slept on the floor. He didn't seem to mind though; a smile was on his lips as he snored.

Something shifted beneath her and Sakura saw that Gaara was awake, looking groggy. "Why did you move?" he grumbled, pulling her back. "You're not the only one who's cold."

"Then put a shirt on," Sakura suggested and sat back up.

Without warning the door slammed open, a form bursting in. Gaara swiftly sat up and pushed Sakura behind him, expecting an attack, but it was only Neji. And he looked pissed.

"Hinata!" he bellowed.

The girl of his attention woke with a squeak and toppled off the bed, landing on Naruto. He woke with a start and yelled, "What the hell?"

"Get away from her!" Neji yelled, stalking over. But Gaara stood and blocked his path. He hesitated. "Gaara of the desert? What are you doing here? And with my cousin no less!" Hinata flinched and Naruto scowled at Neji.

Sakura also stood, getting between Gaara and the angry youth. "Neji, calm down! I was here too, nothing happened."

"This is none of your concern!" he yelled, slipping past Gaara and moving to the two on the floor, yanking at Hinata's arm. She yelped and pulled away, Naruto now snapped out of his sleepy state and wrapped his arm firmly around Hinata, swinging her behind him.

And, to add to the confusion, Kakashi appeared in a flash of smoke and walked over calmly to Naruto and Hinata. Neji got in his way, so he smoothly pushed him onto the couch and pulled the two's bound wrists in front of him, passing his hand over it with a hand sign. The rope fell away limply and both rubbed their wrists, looks of relief on both of their faces.

Then the man turned to Neji, who was just righting himself. "I told Hinata's father about the problem, he said it was fine. I had thought he would have told you."

Neji scowled, not letting his embarrassment show. "Well, now that Hinata is free I'm going to bring her home, now." He stepped forward again and grabbed Hinata. She frowned, turning to Naruto, but Neji had already dragged her out the door.

Kakashi sighed. "Well, we got the ninja," he told Sakura.

"Really? That's great!" Sakura said, her face splitting into a smile. Gaara noticed and got annoyed, was she really that eager to get rid of him?

"Don't celebrate yet. We captured him, but he killed himself before we could get any information." Kakashi's eye crinkled with agitation. "You better be careful, these guys are serious."

And then he disappeared. Sakura frowned and turned to Gaara, but he as blank as always. Naruto said he needed to go out for a bit, so Sakura decided to take a shower to warm her up. Gaara shrugged and lay on the couch, determined to get a little more sleep, wishing Sakura was still pressed against him.

Naruto's bathroom was tiny, but the shower was clean and the water was hot. She stayed in longer than she had planned, leaning against the wall. Once she realized how long she was taking, Sakura exited quickly and grabbed a towel, ruffling her hair with it. With a happy sigh, she wrapped the towel around her, noticing it was as orange as her friend's outfit.

Sakura hesitated, then realized what was wrong. She had left her clothes in the basket, which was in the other room. Normally she would have a set of her clothes right there in the bathroom, but she had forgotten.

She knew Gaara had seen her in a towel before, but that didn't mean she was comfortable with it. And since this was Naruto's towel, it wasn't meant to be wrapped around her torso and legs, just a boy's hips. So it wasn't very long. It covered her, but just barely.

She thought about calling to Gaara from behind the door, but he was probably asleep…That's right, he was asleep! She quickly slipped out and saw Gaara on the couch, eyes closed. Hurriedly kneeling down by her laundry basket Sakura pulled out her everyday outfit and stood, just when Gaara stirred. Sakura froze, praying that he would go back to sleep, but then he rolled over and sat up, ruffling his hair.

He turned, looked at Sakura, then looked away just as smoothly with a blank face and settled back down. She frowned and returned to the bathroom and changed, not having seen the pleased smirk that had crossed Gaara's face when he laid down. She quickly dried her hair the best she could and walked back out, going to the kitchen area.

As she opened the cupboard, Sakura stared. All Naruto had was ramen and a cereal box, along with a few boxes of other things. Definitely nothing nutritious or even mildly healthy. With a sigh she closed it and asked Gaara, "Do you mind if we go shopping? Naruto doesn't have anything to eat."

"Yes I do!" Naruto said, just entering the room with three bags that he set on the counter. "Just bought them, I wasn't planning on having company."

Sakura pulled open one of the bags and threw a withering look at Naruto. "This is all ramen, Naruto! You need actual food."

"What are you talking about? This _is _food." Naruto glanced back at the bags, wondering if Sakura couldn't see all the instant ramen he bought.

Sakura sighed, putting a hand to her face. "Naruto. I can't survive on this stuff, and I don't know how long it will take to fix my apartment. I'll tell you what, since you're letting us stay here, I'll cook all the food, alright?"

Naruto frowned, looking at the bags. He then turned to Gaara. "Is she good at cooking?"

Gaara pushed himself up from the couch, "Yes." He stood and pulled on a shirt.

"Naruto, you come along to, so I can show you what real food is."

A while later, Sakura opened the door to the apartment and set down a bag. Naruto shuffled in, putting his bag down by Sakura's. Gaara walked in behind them, his stomach growling for a meal. Sakura quickly stuffed the food everywhere it would fit, having to battle for room with Naruto's ramen collection, then started cooking. Naruto watched her nervously until Sakura shooed him out of the way, and he and Gaara settled on the couch to wait. Soon Naruto was peeking over the end of the couch, sniffing the air excitedly. Sakura rolled her eyes when she saw him and turned back to her food. Naruto frowned and sat back down, crossing his arms. Gaara glanced at him, then watched as Sakura lifted a spoon to her mouth and carefully tasted it, paused, then licked it again and put the whole thing in her mouth. Gaara blinked and stared, then quickly turned away.

"Food's ready," Sakura announced, piling spaghetti onto three separate plates and slathering them in a creamy white sauce. She thought it was a little weird to have spaghetti during the middle of the day, but she didn't want Naruto to go into withdrawal from pasta.

"Sakura…isn't spaghetti sauce supposed to be red?" Naruto asked, sitting down at the counter.

Sakura sighed. "No, Naruto, it doesn't. Just eat it." She sat down between Gaara and Naruto and began to eat. Naruto, unsurprisingly, finished first and helped himself to seconds, as did Gaara. Sakura smiled to herself and began to clean off her plate in the sink.

Sakura put away her plate and turned to walk to the couch, but her foot hit one of the bags filled with ramen and she tripped. As she fell forward Gaara effortlessly reached out and caught her around the middle without even turning from his plate. Sakura blushed and as soon as she regained her balance Gaara removed his arm, putting it back onto the counter. Sakura mumbled her thanks and tucked her hair behind her ear, hurrying off to sit on the couch.

Once the two guys had finished eating, Sakura washed the plates for them and Naruto suggested they went out and trained. Since there were only three people, they agreed to do a free for all and went out to the training fields.

It was dark when they returned to Naruto's apartment, Naruto's leg was bandaged and Sakura shirt was torn slightly. Unsurprisingly, Gaara was unscathed except for a smudge of dirt on his cheek. As Naruto climbed into the shower, Sakura quickly made a small dinner since none of them were very hungry after such a heavy session. Gaara sat at the counter and watched her cook unlike what he usually did—sitting on the couch with an impassive look on his face. Sakura was electrically aware of his presence and felt nervous, wondering what he wanted. After a few minuets of complete silence, Sakura had enough of chewing her lip and put down her fork, turning to Gaara.

His eyes flicked up to her face with a questioning look. Sakura hesitated, then asked, "Gaara, is there something you wanted ask me?"

"No."

"Oh, alright then," Sakura said, feeling stupid.

"Why?"

Caught off guard by the question, she just blurted out, "Well, you're watching me, like you want to talk to me or something."

He just shrugged and remained silent. Sakura took up the fork, playing with it awkwardly, then began to cook again. Gaara's eyes returned to watching her hands. He frowned as he looked at the slim and pale hands, then glanced down at his own. His gaze dulled and he turned his eyes back to her.

Naruto came out of the shower and looked over at the two. "Gaara…" he asked, staring, "are you checking Sakura out?"

Sakura froze, and Gaara turned his head to glare at Naruto.

"Of course not," Gaara said in a dangerous tone.

"Then why were you staring at her?" he asked. Sakura blinked and turned her look at Naruto, too embarrassed to say anything but listening hard to what Gaara was going to say.

"I was watching her hands, you idiot," Gaara snapped.

Sakura frowned and looked at Gaara, whose eyes stayed locked onto Naruto.

"Why?" the blonde asked, confused.

Gaara rolled his eyes. "Just something to do. Now drop it before I get annoyed."

Naruto frowned, but hurriedly Sakura said loudly, "Food's ready!" and pushed a plate on the counter. Naruto forgot what he was about to say and sprang into his chair, quickly digging in. Sakura placed a plate in front of Gaara, but he grumbled, "I'm not hungry, I'm going to take a shower."

"Eat first," Sakura pressed, pushing the plate closer without looking at him.

Even with Naruto's head start, Gaara finished first. Sakura watched him as he stalked off into the bathroom, feeling uncomfortable. After the door closed behind him and she heard the water turn on, she turned and snapped at Naruto, "Why did you have to go and say that?"

He blinked, surprised at the sudden attack. "What? I was just asking—"

"A ridiculous question!" Sakura finished for him in an angry tone. "Look, I've been trying really hard to get Gaara to be nice and friendly, and now you go and say something stupid like that!"

Naruto still looked confused. "Geez, Sakura, calm down. It was just a simple question."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "You just don't get it." She grabbed Naruto's plate and dumped what was left into the trash.

"I wasn't done with that!" Naruto protested loudly.

"You ate plenty," Sakura said, beginning to clean it off. Naruto glared at her and moved to the couch. Sakura sat on the bed, waiting for Gaara to get out of the bathroom so she could change. She was amazed to see that within minuets the blonde was asleep, and was just about to go over and check when the door opened and Gaara walked in. She quickly stood, grabbing some pajamas out of the basket, and closed the bathroom door behind her.

She quickly changed and stepped back out, slipping back onto the bed. She smiled at the sight of Gaara lying on the couch, glaring at Naruto, who was taking up most of the room. Rolling her eyes, she pulled the blanket around her tightly, shivering a bit.

After half an hour, it was quite clear to the girl that she would not be able to fall asleep—it was far too cold. She sat up, glanced around for another blanket, but then her eyes fell onto the couch. Both of the boys were quite asleep now, and _they _weren't shivering. She quickly decided to abandon the tiny sheet for two warm bodies and stepped over to the couch. There wasn't much room, but seeing that Naruto was smaller, she carefully laid down by him, pulling the sheet over her and trying very hard not to wake him up.

Immediately she was enveloped in warmth and she smiled, quite proud of herself.

Hours later, Gaara woke and shifted on the couch with some difficulty, wanting to go back to sleep. He opened his eyes to see which best way to twist when he saw Sakura.

She was lying contently against Naruto, one of her hands fisted in his shirt, and her head resting on his shoulder.

Jealousy spiked inside him and he clenched his fists, scowling. She should be curled against _him_, not Naruto. That idiot didn't deserve to have her even touching his skin, how dare he—

Gaara stopped himself, realizing what he was thinking. He would not be jealous over a woman. He refused to be. But that didn't stop him from snapping out his leg and kicking Naruto.

He woke with a jerk and a yelp, making Sakura jump. Naruto was distracted from finding what hit him when he looked down at Sakura. He blushed, "Why are you on the couch?"

"Because you're warm," she muttered, rolling over and closing her eyes, still wanting to sleep.

Naruto squirmed uncomfortably, not used to having a woman sleeping next to him. "Sakura, you have a perfectly fine bed!" he protested, embarrassed. Gaara watched him with cold eyes, but he didn't notice.

Sakura sighed and sat up, saying, "Well, it's too cold. I don't know how you could sleep there, its freezing!"

"There's no room for you on the couch! It's already tight with me and Gaara!"

Sakura rolled her eyes, seeing she wouldn't be allowed to go back to sleep. She instead stood and walked over to the kitchen, covering a yawn. "Fine, tonight I'll sleep in the bed and die from the cold."

Now it was Naruto's turn to roll his eyes at her dramatic attitude. Gaara scowled and thought about what had happened.

He had gotten jealous when he saw Naruto and Sakura together. Jealousy over a woman meant that the man wanted her for himself, Gaara knew that. So what the hell did that mean for him?

He turned his head to look at Sakura as she broke some eggs on the edge of a frying pan, his eyes focusing on her hands. They had never touched him affectionately, or passionately, or anything of the sort, while Gaara enjoyed holding her while she slept and feeling her soft skin. Gaara sighed and closed his eyes, leaning his head back.

He wanted her. It was obvious enough once he thought about it. He liked her company, liked to hear her voice, liked watching her. Opening his eyes again, he looked at Sakura, this time at all of her. His eyes traveled from her face to her neck, glided over her chest and stomach, to her hips and curves, then back up, letting his eyes linger. Gaara had always thought that he would never experience these feelings, and always brushed them off as useless and unneeded emotions. It bothered him that he was actually having the exact feelings that he had mocked.

He watched as Naruto lay back down, grumbling, and wondered what he should do. Gaara didn't have time for things like that, nor did he want to deal with them. He would be perfectly fine without them, those feelings made people weak, and Gaara was not the kind of person to let any part of himself be vulnerable. He hesitated, then realized he didn't have to do anything. He could just ignore them and wait for them to go away, it was as simple as that.

"Gaara, your food's ready," Sakura called over her shoulder.

He pushed himself up and moved to the table as Sakura gave him a plate, smiling at him. As she turned back to the tiny oven, Gaara twirled his fork between his fingers idly, watching her. Tucking her hair behind her ear, Sakura shifted her weight from foot to foot as she waited for her food to be ready. Gaara watched her every move, then realized ignoring his want for her might be a little trickier than he originally thought.

Let me make one thing clear—Gaara's want is NOT the same thing as love. He does not love her. The reason he's so calm about it because he had a "So what" attitude about it, he'll just ignore it. Please comment on this chapter, I reeealy want to know what you think on this.


	9. Chapter 9

The day passed slowly. Naruto had long since left to do something, Sakura had forgotten what he had told her, so she and Gaara had been left in his apartment with nothing to do. Lately Sakura had been feeling a little restless since she hadn't been assigned any missions, but now she was getting annoyed. All she had been doing since she had been bound to Gaara was sit around, cook, and watch movies, and Sakura needed to do something exciting.

Glancing at Gaara, Sakura asked, "Do you want to do anything?"

He shook his head and Sakura huffed, propping her head up with her hand, using her other one to tap on the counter. She chewed her lip, trying to relax, when someone knocked on the door. She practically tripped over her own feet as she dashed to the door. Gaara looked up from the couch and watched as she flung open the door to reveal Kakashi.

"Hello Sakura."

"What is it?" she asked quickly, hoping for something to do.

"I thought you would like to know that your apartment will be ready for you tomorrow."

Sakura frowned. "What? But, I didn't even pay for anything!"

Kakashi's eye crinkled and he said, "Sakura, don't tell me you didn't know? Any building damaged during a ninja attack is repaired with the village's money."

"Oh." Sakura looked down, disappointed that was what he came to say.

From the couch, Gaara asked, "Any news on the people who keep attacking us?"

"Actually, yes."

After a few moments, Gaara rolled his eyes and asked, irritated, "What is it?"

"We think they were from a village in the east…but why they attacked you we still have no idea."

"So basically you still have nothing," Gaara said.

"Sadly, yes," Kakashi sighed. "Well, that's all I have to tell you." He nodded to Sakura and walked off.

Sakura closed the door. She sighed and flopped over the edge of the couch, groaning.

"What's wrong with you?" Gaara asked quizzically.

"There is nothing to do!" she complained, pushing herself up.

"Then do something."

"Like what?" Sakura asked, frustrated. "This whole week I haven't gone on any missions, even the lame ones like finding someone's cat!"

"And you want to do that?"

"Right now I would take it in a heartbeat." She frowned and glanced out the window, looking down at the street. She saw a few kids, all lining up behind a small cart. After looking closer, she saw it was an ice cream stand.

"Gaara!" Sakura said happily, her face splitting into a smile, "Let's go get some ice cream!"

"Ice cream?" Gaara began, but then Sakura had grabbed his arm and dragged him to his feet, rushing out the door. Gaara frowned, but followed her, curious to see why she was excited.

When they reached the street, Sakura asked, "Would you like chocolate or vanilla?"

"What?"

"Flavor," Sakura said, getting in the short line.

"Er, chocolate," Gaara said, wondering what ice cream was.

Sakura bought two cones and passed Gaara his own, then sat down on a nearby bench. Gaara stayed standing. Gaara looked down at his ice cream cone with disdain, frowning at it. In Suna he had never encountered such a food before, it was just too hot. But Sakura had gotten so excited when she had seen the ice cream stand, so it must taste good…

After staring at it for a little while longer he tentatively took a bite, quickly jerking back. It _did _taste good, it was just much too cold and made his teeth ache. Wondering how on earth Sakura could stand it, he turned to her. Immediately he wished he hadn't.

Sakura was licking away happily at her cone. He couldn't tear his eyes off her small pink tongue, which repeated darted out and withdrew as if teasing the cream. She closed her eyes and smacked her lips, then started again. A little bit got onto her lips and dribbled down a little, so Sakura quickly let her tongue catch it, closing her eyes happily. Gaara stared, transfixed, as the girl lapped away, having not a clue at how she was affecting him.

"Er…Sakura…" he coughed out.

"Hmm?" She turned to him, meeting his eyes while still licking away mercilessly.

"Never mind…" he said weakly as she took a small bite. She then shrugged and continued, not noticing how Gaara stared. He wasn't watching her anymore, really. He was more imagining what her skilled tongue could do to other things. He closed his eyes to imagine more clearly.

Sakura's voice jerked him roughly from this daydream, and as he fought back the surge of disgust at himself he asked, "What?" Gaara was shocked at himself, he had never thought about such things, and just a simple image of Sakura sent his mind into a wave of dirty thoughts.

Sakura smiled, it was rare she caught Gaara not paying attention. "Do you want some?" she repeated, offering her cone out to him from her sitting position. "Mine's vanilla."

He blinked and stared at her. His eyes looked at Sakura's mouth—which still had a bit of ice cream on it—, the cone, and back again. "Huh?" he asked stupidly, images of his daydream still sitting on the fringes of his mind.

"Do you want some?"

_Trust me, I want some. _He coughed and shook his head, throat too tight to answer.

"Alright, suit yourself."

Gaara forced himself to look away from her and set his eyes back on the ice cream stand. It had a long line now, mostly filled with tiny kids and their parents, but a few teens were there too. Gaara recognized Ino walking away from the stand, happily devouring a purple cone. He watched her instead. She didn't look like she teasing him, or any guy around her, she was just simply eating. Gaara scowled. If Sakura was doing the same thing as Ino, why did her actions seem so much more erotic and passionate?

"Not fair," he mumbled, leaning against the brick wall that stood behind the bench.

"What's not—hey!"

Gaara turned in time to see a tiny kid that was playing tag with his friends bump into Sakura, then quickly run away. Sakura turned to scold him, but Gaara only saw her ice cream tip out of the cone and roll off her chest, landing in her lap. Sakura jumped at the sudden coldness and looked down. "Oh no…!" she quickly swiped what was left of her food off her lap and began wiped hurriedly at her breast, blushing at her clumsiness.

Gaara decided to move away at that moment, and quickly thought of an excuse. He went to the ice cream stand, grabbed a couple of napkins, and walked back, passing them to her. She thanked him with a thankful smile and began dabbing at herself, still red in the face. Gaara wondered how he could possibly make an excuse for helping her, but immediately destroyed that thought and stared at his own ice cream.

Once Sakura had cleaned herself, she stood up and said, "Well, so much for that…it had been a while since I had any too—"

Gaara thrust his cone at her and she stared at him. After a radiant smile she accepted it and they continued on their way.

He wouldn't have been able to eat it anyway.

The rest of the day wasn't nearly as eventful for Gaara. Just as Sakura had been complaining, they really had nothing to do. Even Gaara was beginning to lose patience with their nonexistent schedule, and after hours of wandering around the village just hoping that they would find something interesting, both of them were in a bad mood.

"Shouldn't Naruto be here by now?" Sakura wondered out loud.

"Who cares?" Gaara grumbled.

"I want to know if he'll be home for dinner," she said, glancing at the clock. "What do you want to eat?"

"Anything," Gaara answered, knowing now that whatever Sakura made would taste good.

Just then the door opened, and Naruto walked in. "Hey guys," he said.

"What do you want for dinner?" Sakura asked, turning to the cabinets.

"I already ate," Naruto said, and he walked over to the couch, lying down.

Sakura frowned and began to cook. "Oh, Naruto, Kakashi-sensei came over after you left. My apartment will be ready tomorrow." Naruto nodded and stretched out, closing his eyes.

After the two of them had eaten, Sakura took a shower. She took longer than usual, dreading the freezing cold of Naruto's bed, but finally got out and dressed. Slipping back into the room, she saw Gaara sitting on the couch, eyeing Naruto as if deciding whether or not to shove him over to make room for himself.

Sakura crawled into bed and curled up, hugging the sheets around her. It didn't help much and soon she was shivering. Rolling over, she pushed her self up and asked quietly into the semi-darkness, "Gaara?"

"What?"

Sakura hesitated, blushing, then said, "Can you come here?"

"Why?" he asked, wishing to go to sleep.

"So you can keep me warm," she said, a little embarrassed.

Gaara blinked, then decided it wouldn't be the best thing for him to do if he wanted to ignore those unwanted feelings of his. "You have a blanket."

"Please?"

He didn't respond.

"You never had a problem with it before." Sakura shivered again and said, "Just please, Gaara. Keep me warm."

Gaara silently groaned. How could he say no when she begged like that?

Sakura didn't hear him move, but suddenly she felt him lay down by her side, wrapping one arm around her. Sakura smiled and snuggled up to him, saying in a whisper, "Thank you."

Gaara closed his eyes as her breath danced across his neck and her knee brushed his thigh. He sighed and pulled her closer, resting his chin on her head, letting himself forget his decision to ignore his want for just a little bit.

There. Hope you liked it, please comment.

P.S.—I'm going on vacation soon, so there won't be any updates for a while.


	10. Chapter 10

Alright, chapter ten. Enjoy.

Sakura yawned quietly and opened her eyes, blinking them repeated in an attempt to bat away her sleepiness. Gaara's breath fell against her neck in warm, reassuring huffs. Sakura smiled to herself and looked down at the arms that wrapped around her waist. She ran her finger over them lightly, thinking.

She was surprised that Gaara had become so comfortable around her, but pleased. He was still distant, but Sakura thought that in his own way Gaara was attempting to open up to her. That meant a lot to her.

She was about to get up, but Gaara shifted behind her, his grip tightening on her for a moment, then relaxing. He released her and pushed himself up, eyes still half closed.

"Morning," Sakura said and slipped off the bed. He mumbled a response and fell back, rolling onto his stomach and pulling a pillow over his head.

She bit back a smile and glanced at Naruto on the couch. He was still sleeping, mouth wide open and a foot falling off the edge of the cushions. Sakura changed her clothes in the bathroom and made a hearty breakfast of pancakes for her and the other two, during which Gaara dragged himself over to the counter. Sakura smiled to herself as she recalled what she had said about a routine in the making—she hit it on the head with that one. Just as she was setting pancakes in front of Gaara, Naruto's head popped into view, nose sniffing the air excitedly. His eyes lit up when he saw the food and almost tripped over himself scrambling to his seat.

Sakura couldn't help but laugh. "Naruto, what are you going to do without me? This is the last time you'll be eating my food."

"I think I might have to move into your apartment," Naruto said as he practically drown his pancakes in syrup.

"Hinata wouldn't like that," Sakura said, glancing at Naruto from the corner of her eye.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Naruto muttered as he looked away, blushing slightly.

Sakura rolled her eyes, _about time he caught on. _"Sure you don't. I'm sure if you asked her Hinata would make you some."

Gaara thought dully, _she'd probably make a whole banquet. That is, if she didn't chop her hands off while cooking because she'd be so nervous. _

Naruto ignored her comment and asked, "So you'll be leaving right after this?"

"Mhmm."

Soon she had finished her food and stood, gathering her things and folding them back into her laundry basket. She went into the bathroom to retrieve the shampoo she had brought and as she returned she was surprised to see Gaara pick up the basket. Turning to Naruto, she thanked him for letting them stay and the two left.

Sakura walked quickly, eager to return to her own apartment. Gaara had mixed feelings on the subject. He wasn't sure it was the best thing for him right now to be alone with Sakura nearly all the time, every day until the jutsu was lifted. He figured as long as he kept Sakura away from ice cream he would be fine.

Sakura opened the door, and Gaara set the laundry basket down on the counter. Smiling hugely, Sakura leaped onto the couch and giggled, stretching out. "It's good to be home!"

Gaara shrugged and walked to where the bathroom door. Sakura followed him, nervous to see what kind of job the repair men had done.

After opening the door, she saw she didn't need to worry. The only way you could tell the wall had recently been blown to bits was that it was a dull gray instead of bright yellow."I'll need to paint this…" she mumbled, then smiled. Finally, something to do! It may not be the most exciting thing, but it was better than watching scary movies and sitting around.

Gaara walked back out and idly moved to the fridge, opening it. He rolled his eyes. "They ate your food," he called, moved aside as Sakura came over.

"Well, I expected that," she said dully, checking to see what needed to be replaced and shut it. "Up for a shopping trip?" she asked, raising an eyebrow coaxingly.

He shrugged. Shaking her head and smiling, Sakura led him back outside.

They came back not long after, Gaara setting down a large paint can a bag of brushes. Sakura quickly put away her groceries and glanced down at the can.

After she had dressed in torn overalls and had pulled back her hair, Sakura popped open the can and started painting. She was surprised when Gaara's arm came into view, holding a dripping paintbrush. She stopped and stared at him, blinking.

"What?" he asked quizzically.

"N-nothing," Sakura said hurriedly and returned to her work. She hadn't been expecting him to help at all. "Thanks."

Gaara didn't respond, and the two painted in silence. Sakura didn't let her smile show, but she had to put a lot of effort into it. She didn't know why she was so happy with him, but at the moment she didn't quite care.

A while later they put their brushes down and left the tiny room, Sakura feeling a little nauseous from the paint fumes. She curled up on the couch, and after glancing at her, Gaara opened the windows in the kitchen. "Thank you," she mumbled.

Gaara himself took a breath of the fresh air, shaking his head. He had been feeling tired all day, and he sat down on the couch besides Sakura, leaning back with his eyes closed. He knew exactly why he was tired—all night, whenever he had just begun to start dreaming, they were about Sakura. Gaara had forced himself to wake up every time, refusing to allow them to turn…intimate. He didn't need those images in his head. Desire them, on the other hand…

He quickly pushed those thoughts away, annoyed at himself. What was wrong with him? Just a few days bound to a girl—with bubble gum pink hair, no less—and suddenly his hormones decided that they were going to kick themselves into overdrive right from a nice, peaceful unknown existence.

Opening his eyes and turning his head to the side, he saw Sakura hugging a pillow, already asleep. He didn't bother fighting the tug at his lips, what was the point?

It was ironic. She looked so fragile, breakable—and despite that his fingers still itched to travel under her clothes, do things he knew would hurt. Why couldn't he be attracted to someone who at least didn't look like would snap like a twig under the slightest pressure? He had seen her fight, knew she wasn't as frail as she looked, but still. His eyes drifted over her skin, trying to picture it with dark spots—bruises that would be left behind. It didn't look right in his head.

Gaara looked away, disgusted at himself. He was actually picturing what would happen, like he thought it might. That bothered him. He knew that part of him was hoping it would, but he was surprised that he was actually considering it. Gaara knew that his self control was better than that.

He looked back at her, his eyes calculating this time. How the hell could she just trust him like that, to just let down all her defenses—unless you count the pillow she was clinging to—while knowing what he was capable of?

Her blind trust made Gaara uneasy. A little…curious, and irritated. It was too tempting for her to be like that. He wanted to prove to himself that Sakura wasn't completely defenseless, she was a light sleeper. If he dared touch her, she would wake up immediately, and stop him. He was sure she would, and told himself that. But he couldn't help but be curious.

And yes, he wanted an excuse to cheat.

Reaching out, he let his fingers go to her jaw. Sakura didn't so much as flit her eyelids, though Gaara didn't make his touch light. His fingers ran down to her chin, then back up. Still she didn't twitch. Scowling, Gaara let his fingers trace down her throat, then following her collar bone. Nothing.

Gaara didn't remember her being such a heavy sleeper, the paint fumes must have really knocked her out. He pulled his hand away, knowing better than to let himself continue lower. His little experiment had backfired on him, now he knew that she wouldn't protest if she was asleep. Not that he would do anything, of course not…he wouldn't allow it.

He pushed himself off the couch and walked back into the bathroom, finishing off the wall. When he came back, Sakura was just waking up. She grumbled and opened her eyes, then looked around, confused. "When did I fall asleep?" she asked.

"A while ago."

"Opps…I wanted to finish the wall before lunch…"

"It's done."

Sakura looked at him. "Did you finish it?"

He nodded and went to the cabinets, pulling out a granola bar.

"Thank you so much, Gaara!" Sakura chirped, standing and smiling warmly at him.

Gaara shrugged and looked away. He hadn't done it to be nice; it needed to be done obviously Sakura wasn't going to do it.

He heard her giggle and turned back to her. "What?"

"You have a little paint on your cheek, here…" she licked her thumb and reached out to his face. Gaara pulled back a little, annoyed that she wasn't in the least reluctant to touch him, but Sakura didn't notice. She wiped at it, but it didn't come off. She frowned and turned to the counter, grabbing a small hand towel and dampening it in the sink. She then took Gaara's chin and gently rubbed at the offending spot, successfully cleaning it.

Gaara pulled himself away with a jerk of his head. Sakura blinked, then blushed. "Oh, sorry…" she mumbled. He ignored her and went to the couch.

Sakura flopped onto the bed. The entire day, once again, had been spent doing _nothing! _She was beginning to get very irritated. She thought about asking Kakashi-sensei next time she saw them to assign her a mission, even with Gaara bound to her.

Speaking of Gaara, Sakura noticed that he was still leaning against the wall, looking out of the now-dark window. "Gaara?"

His head turned to her, but his eyes stayed locked on the sky.

"Aren't you tired?"

He shrugged.

She frowned and watched him for a moment longer, then turned and slipped under the covers. Gaara shook his head when he saw that she left plenty of room for him. He was rather reluctant to share a bed with her again, he wanted a good night's sleep, and not to be plagued by dreams with the star sleeping right next to him. But the floor didn't look exactly welcoming either…

Unenthusiastically, he went over to the bed, laying down with his back to her. Within minuets Sakura was asleep, and it didn't take her long to seek out his warmth in her sleep. She curled up against his back, making Gaara thoroughly annoyed. He thought about pushing her away, but then she would probably keep doing the same thing. Gaara learned it wasn't very hard to ignore her while she wasn't doing anything and he too soon fell asleep.

Gaara woke up a short time later. He opened his eyes and saw Sakura lying next to him, head on his chest and her hand resting on his shoulder. One of her legs had hooked around his, and Gaara's arm was lazily settled around her.

"Sakura…" he sighed, closing his eyes. He wondered if his arm had gone around her before or after she began using him as a pillow. And when did Sakura grow this infatuation for _cuddling?_

As he considered pulling away, Gaara suddenly stiffened. It wasn't Sakura that had woken him up. There was someone in the window.

He couldn't see the face, the moonlight put it in shadow, but he or she wasn't moving. He hesitated when he realized this, all of his other attackers had been exactly that—attackers. So why wasn't this one doing anything?

Very carefully and slowly, he pushed Sakura away.

"Oh, you're awake."

Gaara blinked at the voice.

The girl sitting on the window sill jumped down and smiled. "Did you miss me?"

Gaara pushed himself up. "What are you doing here, Temari?"

There. I'm sorry its short, but I wanted to get something out there after such a long absence. Please review, mention anything you liked, or didn't. Thanks.


	11. Chapter 11

I want to thank all my readers, I checked on my stats, and apparently over one thousand people checked my last chapter. I know that isn't the actual number of readers, but still, WOW. Thanks. Here you go, eleventh chapter.

Temari moved over the rooftops quickly, doing her best to remember where Gaara was said to be. She found the building and counted the windows, then jumped down, perching silently in the open window. Quickly scanning the room, Temari smiled.

There Gaara was, right—

Temari nearly fell out the window, shocked. She steadied herself, staring with wide eyes.

A girl was sleeping right next to him, arm wrapped around his middle. Gaara shifted in his sleep and the girl retracted her arm slightly, moving it to his shoulder and pulling herself closer to him.

Temari didn't realize her mouth was open and quickly closed it. This…wasn't _that_ impossible. This was Gaara. He was unpredictable. And he had been away from the village for a long time on a mission, maybe she was why it had taken him a while to get back…He _was _a guy, after all.

Looking at Gaara's face, she saw how incredibly relaxed he was, and so was the girl. They actually didn't look that odd together.

As she stared, Gaara shifted again, stilled, then she realized he was watching her.

"Oh, you're awake," she said. Slipping to the floor, she quickly mastered her shock and said playfully, "Did you miss me?"

"What are you doing here, Temari?" Gaara asked sharply. He moved from the bed, careful not to wake Sakura up.

"I was sent to look for you. You were supposed to return to Suna a while ago." She decided to question him about his little girlfriend later, her mission came first.

"I thought Kakashi had taken care of it…" he muttered, glancing over his shoulder at Sakura. He didn't want to wake her up. He motioned for Temari to follow him and he left the room, closing the door behind his sister. He couldn't walk much farther do to the binding jutsu, so he leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. "So what, am I supposed to return to Suna now?"

Temari frowned, "I was sent only to find you, but I'm sure they want me to bring you back."

"Well I'm not going back…at least for a while."

Temari cocked her head. Gaara wasn't going to return to Suna because of a girl? Could he really be that serious? "What do you mean?"

"I don't want to talk about it, it's complicated," Gaara said. He didn't want to explain the whole jutsu problem, then she would know that he actually could go back to Suna, he would just have to bring Sakura with him. He didn't want to leave the leaf village, he liked it better than Suna. It wasn't as hot, dry, and here the people didn't hate his guts, they were just afraid of him.

"Is this about that girl?" Temari asked.

"Yes."

Temari blinked, she expected him to be a little less blunt. "Alright…I, erm, guess I could tell the council that you're safe, but…" She wasn't quite sure what to do. She just expected it to be a simple find and return mission…so what could she do now? "Gaara, they're going to want you back, and soon. I don't want them to consider you a missing nin."

"Let them think that. I'm not going around killing people, so there would be no reason to come after me."

"But…"

Back in the bedroom, Sakura stirred. She woke up and shivered, looking around for Gaara. Seeing he wasn't in the bed, she figured he must be in the bathroom. But then she heard quiet voices from outside the door and frowned. She recognized one of them as Gaara's, and the other was female. Standing, she walked over and opened the door.

"Gaara?"

He and his sister turned to look at her. Sakura looked at Temari, looking confused. "You're…Gaara's sister, right?"

She smiled. "Yes, Temari. It's…nice to meet you." She felt a little awkward, not sure how to talk to Gaara's…girlfriend?

"What are you doing here?" Sakura asked, glancing at Gaara. His face was blank.

"I came to make sure Gaara was alright…but I see that wasn't necessary. You've obviously been taking care of him."

"Actually, it's really the other way around. With all the attacks, Gaara—"

"Attacks?" Temari cut in. She turned to Gaara. "What attacks?" she asked sharply.

Gaara sighed. Great. "It's nothing to worry about, Temari."

Sakura bit her lip. She had a feeling Gaara hadn't wanted her to mention that.

Temari glared at him, then rounded on Sakura. "What attacks?"

Sakura took a step back. She didn't want to say anything, now knowing that Gaara wanted to keep her mouth shut, but it was obvious that Temari wasn't going to drop it. "Er…"

Gaara stepped between the two girls. "We'll talk about this in the morning, Temari."

Temari scowled at him. "I'm counting on it."

Gaara rolled his eyes and nudged Sakura back into the room, closing the door behind them.

"Thanks," she said quietly.

Gaara shrugged. "Just go to sleep," he muttered. He wasn't look forward to telling his older sister about the recent attacks on his life, and crawled onto the bed after her. He was too distracted to remember not to wrap his arm around her waist, but Sakura didn't mind; only blushed a little.

The next morning, Sakura woke up shivering slightly. She kept her eyes closed and squirmed closer to the source of warmth that was wrapped around her. "Good morning to you too," Gaara mused quietly.

Sakura jerked her head up, blushing. "Er, sorry…"

"I didn't mind,"Gaara muttered, closing his eyes. Sakura had woken him up, and he planned to go back to—_did he say that out loud?_

Sakura blinked. "What?"

"Never mind," he said quickly, silently cursing.

Sakura stared at him. Even with his eyes closed, he knew she was. "What are you going to make for breakfast?" he asked, knowing it was a lame attempt to change the subject. "I'm pretty sure that Temari likes French toast."

"Do you think she's awake?"

Gaara opened his eyes and rolled over, looking at the clock. It was five in the morning. "Oh. Definitely not. I'm going back to sleep." He closed his eyes again.

A few minuets later, Sakura broke the silence. "Gaara?"

"Hm?"

"…I'm cold." She blushed as she said it, embarrassed. But Gaara hadn't protested before, and she was shivering.

Gaara inwardly sighed. He knew what she wanted. Rolling over, he lifted his arm and Sakura smiled at him, then moved up against his chest. "Thanks," she whispered.

"Just when did you get so sensitive to the cold?" Gaara asked lightly.

Sakura smiled. "Since I got used to sleeping next to you. You're always so warm…"

"Of course," he muttered. _So basically its self-induced torture._

Later that morning, Sakura was in the kitchen making breakfast as Gaara sat at the counter, looking over his shoulder at his sister, who was still asleep. Sakura was trying to be extra-quiet so not to wake her, but Gaara told her not to bother, Temari was a very heavy sleeper. Once Sakura had finished, she set down the food—French toast, of course—and went over to the couch.

"Temari?"

No response.

"Temari?" Sakura called in a slightly louder voice. The girl shifted on the couch, scowling now.

"Sakura," Gaara warned, "I wouldn't be doing that. Temari doesn't like to be woken up."

"Well, I'm not letting her sleep on the couch all day. _Temari?"_

She reached out with a hand, and Gaara quickly opened his mouth, but was too slow to let the warning out. Sakura shook Temari's shoulder, and was suddenly pressed into the carpet. There was a thwack, and a kunai could be seen buried into the wall opposite Temari, who was now sitting up, alert and looking for enemies.

"You sleep with kunai under your _pillow_?" Gaara demanded from the floor, Sakura below him. "You could have killed her!"

Temari blinked and looked down at the two teens on the floor. She stared for a moment, then remembered where she was. "Oh, it's just you."

"_Just you?" _Gaara hissed, glaring at his sister. "Who did you expect, a missing nin from the Bingo Book come to kill you in your sleep? Sakura was offering you _French toast, _and you nearly slice her throat!"

Sakura was surprised that Gaara was so angry, and was about to sit up and try to calm them down when she saw Gaara had a vise grip on her shoulder, and his other hand was cupping the back of her head. She realized that must have been why her skull hadn't smacked into the floor.

"Oh, be quiet," Temari snapped, having never been a morning person. She didn't take well to people yelling at her when she had woken up. "She's fine, isn't she? Now leave me alone so I can sleep."

Gaara opened his mouth to retort, but Sakura quickly stepped in, "Gaara?"

He didn't look at her, his eyes were still glaring daggers at his sister. "What?"

"…You can get off me now."

"Hm?" He turned his head, then quickly released her and sat back on his knees so she could get up. Sakura slowly got to her feet, unsure of what to do.

Temari closed her eyes, then they popped back open. "What is that smell?" she asked, sitting up. "Is that…French toast?" her face split into a smile and she hopped over the couch to bounce into a chair, pulling a plate her way.

Sakura stared at her. She never knew anyone who hated the morning so much and yet was just as agile as if it was the middle of the day. Glancing back at the kunai in the wall—which Gaara was just yanking out—she realized if Gaara hadn't dragged her out of the way she would be in a lot of trouble. A little nervously, Sakura sat at the counter, Gaara between them. He shoved the weapon at his sister, who ignored it and happily devoured her food.

"Geez Gaara," Temari chirped, "no wonder you didn't want to come back. Sakura sure can cook!"

Gaara only rolled his eyes. He was in no mood to put up with her mood swings.

"Oh, and now I think its time you tell me about the attacks Sakura mentioned," she said sharply, turning to face him.

Gaara scowled. "It's nothing I can't handle."

"You're avoiding the question."

Gaara didn't respond and seemed suddenly quite interested in his breakfast.

"Fine, I'll ask Sakura." The girl mentioned winced and looked at Temari. "Now, tell me what is going on."

"Um…well, I don't really know myself. About a week ago when I first ran into Gaara, we were attacked."

"By who?" Temari demanded.

"We don't know," Gaara said tiredly. "Long story short, they keep attacking. Their last…_visit _took out the wall in the bathroom, so they're not exactly worried about being subtle."

Temari scowled. She knew that Gaara could take care of himself, but still, it made her angry that people were attacking her kid brother. She would have to tell the Suna council about this. She wondered whether she should mention Sakura as well.

There you go. And just so you know, things will be heating up soon, and this time I _really _mean it, I promise. Also, since school is starting, I won't have as much time to write, so my updates will take longer. Please comment. (One thousand readers for one chapter! I feel so special! I think I just might have to 'squee'. Well, maybe not. I'm not much of a squee-ing type…)


	12. Chapter 12

Keep expecting slow updates, school had been a nightmare. I think it shows in my writing, trying to type this, it felt so forced. I'm sorry about that.

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Temari ate quickly and soon finished, dully dragging her fork through the puddles of syrup as she eyed Gaara and Sakura. She wanted to ask about their relationship. But she wanted to ask Gaara alone.

Her chance came when Sakura finished her breakfast and excused herself to take a shower. Temari watched her leave, then rounded on Gaara, who was still eating.

"Gaara."

His eyes flicked to her.

"You still haven't told me h—"

"Because, as I told you, we don't know ourselves. The attacks seem to be random."

That's not what I'm talking about. I mean your girlfriend. When did that happen?"

Gaara almost choked on his drink. "Excuse me?" he hissed, eyes mere slits as he glared at her.

Temari stared at him, smirking now. "Gaara, you can't obviously believe that I wouldn't notice that you were cuddling with a girl when I arrived."

"I was not _cuddling_," he spat. "I do _not _cuddle, the mere thought is ridiculous. Don't be stupid, Temari."

"Oh?" Temari raised an eyebrow, seeing a very rare chance to make her brother uncomfortable just around the corner. "Then what do you call what you two were doing?"

"_She_ was cuddling _against_ me. Not _with _me. There's a difference," he said sharply, looking away, deciding that was the end of the conversation.

Temari wasn't having any of it, and snorted. "Gaara, I know you can't possibly think I'll drop this. It's obvious you two are together, and denying it won't work. So tell me why she was cuddling with you."

"She was cold," he said shortly.

"That wasn't what I meant."

"I know."

"So then answer the question."

"I did."

"Give me the answer I want."

"How could I possibly know what it is you want me to say?" he asked, scowling.

"Don't get smart, Gaara."

"Don't be stupid, Temari."

Temari scowled right back. She didn't know how much time she had left before Sakura got out of the shower. But she knew the mood that Gaara was going into, he wouldn't say anything to her for a while. But she also knew how to get him out of it. Be blunt.

"How many times have you two had sex?"

Gaara snapped around, eyes crackling, hand nearly shattering the glass in his hand. Temari only smirked at him.

"And just why do you want to know?" Gaara snapped quietly, struggling to keep control of himself.

"Just curious," she chirped, cocking her head and smiling coldly. "I need to tell our brother all about this, and I want to have my facts straight."

"There is absolutely nothing going on between us."

"Oh please. Gaara, I saw you two last night. I know that you're not telling me the truth. I bet that if I had come around an hour earlier, I would have come at a very private moment containing two certain some-ones doing a very intimate something."

"Temari, you don't know what you're talking about!"

She smirked. She had gotten him to raise his voice. "Gaara, do you want me to get detailed? Alright, fine, I will. I bet that I would have walked in while you were rolling around in the sheets, that little girlfriend of yours panting and sweaty—"

"Enough." Gaara hands curled into fists. He did not need that mental picture, never mind being feed it by his sister. "For your information, we have not had sex, we have not kissed, we have not so much as hugged. Nor have we expressed any such feelings that would lead one to believe that we want to any of those things. Got it?"

Temari stared at him. "You're lying."

"Want a bet?"

"I've seen the way you look at her!"

"What does that have to do with any of this?" Gaara snapped, suddenly on defensive. Had he been watching her with lust without realizing it?

"Gaara, I am not stupid. The look in your eyes when you look at her is the same way a lover looks at his woman."

"Sakura is _not_ my woman."

"Maybe not, but you want her to be. Gaara, I come here, and find you sleeping peacefully, looking completely at ease, with a girl curled right up next to you. You had your arm around her, and she had her arms around you. Never mind the fact that literally sleeping together is only something people who have feelings for each other do, you would never do that before, no matter who it was. You wouldn't let anyone that close to you, ever."

Gaara glared at her. She was only telling him things he already knew and had thought about.

Temari continued. "Gaara, I know these things. Don't kid yourself."

"I'm not!" Gaara finally yelled, just wanting to shut her up. "Of course I know I want her, Temari. I want her all for myself, but that doesn't mean I have to do anything about it!"

Temari blinked, having not expected his sudden acceptance. "Wait…'that doesn't mean I have to do anything about it'? Gaara, what the hell do you mean?"

"What do you think? I'm not going to do anything about it, because I don't _want _to want her. I hate it. I don't like the thought of me attracted to someone."

"Why not?"

"Because feelings like that leave people weak. They will always have that one damn weak spot. And if I leave those damned feelings alone, I won't have that."

"You're denying yourself your feelings so you can be strong?" Temari demanded. "Gaara, that isn't right!"

"Screw what's right, Temari. Since when have I ever cared about what's right?"

"Gaara, feelings don't have to make you weak. They can make you strong, too!"

"Oh, don't give me that crap." Gaara glared at her.

"It isn't crap, Gaara! And you may not care about what's right, but at least I know you care about her! You protected her Gaara, and you've watched over her. I can see it in your eyes Gaara, you won't let anything bad happen to her."

"What's your point?"

"My _point _is that you can't help it Gaara. Ignoring those feelings is just about impossible, isn't it? How many times have you reacted, have you saved her from getting hurt without so much as thinking about it?" Temari watched him, knowing that she had hit it on the head. "It's because you want to, Gaara. And denying it will get you no where, it's not healthy. You'll only end up hurting yourself and maybe her too."

"No, Temari, you've got it backwards. I'll hurt _her_. She won't have a clue why, and she doesn't deserve it. Even I won't do that to her."

"What do you mean, 'even I'? Gaara, you aren't that bad of a person. You're not the kid you were before. You've changed, and for the better." Temari's voice was soft.

"Drop it!" Gaara snapped, fists clenching.

"Gaara—

"Temari, I mean it," he said quietly in a voice of ice. Gaara gritted his teeth. His temper was slipping out of the very tips of his fingers, and a stand off between him and his sister wouldn't be pretty.

"Alright," Temari said quietly. She could see he was at his breaking point. She stood and picked up her fan, which was leaning against the couch. "Don't be surprised if I show up again, I'll probably be assigned to bring you back."

As she reached the door, she paused. "Give Sakura my goodbye, alright?" Then she left.

Gaara stared at the door a while after she had left, feeling unsure with his sister's sudden departure. He unclenched his fists and ran a hand through his hair.

"Gaara?"

He whipped around, nearly falling out of his chair. He had forgotten about Sakura. She stood in front of him, dressed in her everyday clothes with her hair dripping onto her shoulders. His stomach made an uncomfortable twisting motion when he realized that he and his sister had been yelling quite loud, she could have heard the argument.

"What?" he asked tightly, keeping his face impassive.

"Where's Temari? I heard the two of you yelling, is everything alright?" she asked, cocking her head.

"Everything's fine. She just left."

"Are you sure? I've never heard you yell so loud. Well, I couldn't really hear what you were yelling about, but still. What happened?"

"Nothing, Sakura. Don't worry about it," he muttered, a feeling of relief washing over him.

"Alright…" she said a little unsurely. She hadn't really been expecting him to tell her what had gotten him upset, but she still wanted to know. Deciding to ask later, Sakura moved to the counter and started to put the dishes in the sink. Gaara slumped over the couch and listened to the plates clink together. He realized that Sakura must have cleaned a mountain of plates and made dozens of meals since he had "moved in". That stuck him as a little surprising; Sakura didn't look like the homemaker type.

He closed his eyes and tried to imagine Sakura as a stay at home mom. It didn't really fit, imagining her staying home taking care of a baby. Going to formal parties like the kinds that the civilians held, in a little black dress chatting with other women, drinking wine, it just struck him as odd. Well, not the little black dress part, that fit perfectly. Maybe with her hair tied back, dangly earrings that drew attention to her neck, her lips painted red…

"Gaara?"

He quickly opened his eyes and saw Sakura looking at him.

"You have a nosebleed," she informed him.

Gaara blinked and put a hand to his face, and pulled it away, seeing bright red blood on his two fingers.

"Here," Sakura murmured, and kneeled onto the couch, pulling out a handkerchief. Gaara stiffened, apparently she hadn't realized that her action had caused her to move her knee between his legs, nearly brushing a certain sensitive area. She made quick work of the blood, but didn't move from her position and studied his face. "Gaara? Are you alright? You're face is all red."

Gaara clenched his teeth. She was much too close to his lap right now, and she moved any closer, she would quickly be informed about his attraction.

She didn't notice his confliction and cocked her head. "Do you have a fever?" she asked, and without thinking put a hand to his forehead. She paused for a moment, then moved it to his cheek.

Gaara closed his eyes. _Screw this._

He flipped Sakura, earning a confused yelp from her, and crushed his mouth to hers. Sakura froze and Gaara fisted his hand in her hair, ran his lips hungrily over her unresponsive lips, then bit them swiftly. His free hand slid up her body to cup her breast, and moved his mouth down, to her jaw. Without thinking about it, he caressed the skin under his hand with his thumb and moved his lips to her neck. He paused there, panting against her skin, suddenly registering that all his attempts of seclusion had just been blown to bits, and non too subtly.

"Gaara…?" Sakura asked, her voice scared and shrill, yet quiet. "What…?"

He pushed himself up quickly, not looking her in the eye. He didn't need to look at her to know that she was staring at him with those big, green trusting eyes of hers. He didn't want to see them with fear, betrayal, pain, or disgust. He snapped hoarsely, "This is you're fault!"

Sakura didn't respond, she didn't understand. She didn't know if she wanted to either. She was shocked at what he had done, and this sudden change in mood confused her even more. Was he angry at her, or himself?

"If you hadn't gotten bound to me, then none of this would have happened!" Gaara stated loudly, looking at his knee, his face conflicted. "If you had just stayed away, I wouldn't be doing this. If you had been like everyone else, I wouldn't have gotten attached. If you hadn't been so kind, so understanding, so different, I wouldn't be feeling this!" he accused her. "If you hadn't been so damn trusting—!"He finally looked at her eyes, which were watching him as a child that was being punished but didn't understand why. "Why did you have to trust me!? What the hell gave you the right to trust me?"

Sakura looked up at him. Gaara couldn't describe the emotion on her face, but he didn't like it and quickly looked away again, chest heaving with his outburst, face scrunched up. His jaw was clenched to the point of cracking his teeth, and his hands were balled into fists on either side of her head.

Sakura opened her mouth, then closed it. She flicked her glance down, then back up at Gaara. How was she supposed to respond to that? And should she, after what he had just done?

A moment passed, and then Sakura tried again. She managed to work her tongue enough to say, "Gaara," but the rest was cut off when he had flinched and jumped to his feet, stalking away. Sakura had just enough time to sit up and see his back before the bathroom door was slammed closed.

Only one word was occupying her mind at the moment.

_What?_

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I'm expecting flames on this one. I had so much trouble writing this chapter because working out what their reactions would be was so difficult. I like Gaara's reaction, but I hate the way I wrote Sakura. No matter what reaction I tried, it just didn't fit. I had to re-write this chapter about three times because of the kissing scene. Please, if you didn't like it, I won't mind you saying so. I want you to, so I can learn.


	13. Chapter 13

Sorry it's so late, but I've been busy.

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Sakura sat motionless on the couch, mouth slightly open. She was having trouble processing thought at the moment, and swallowed hard. Gaara had just…he had just forced himself on her? That wasn't possible. Sakura refused to believe it, there was no way—

Suddenly she could feel his mouth on hers, his hand on her chest, body pressed against her. She shivered and clenched her eyes shut, hugging herself. That had actually happened. He had touched her where no one was allowed to, he had kissed her! Gaara wasn't supposed to do that! After all the time they had spent together, she would have never expected him to do something like that!

She recalled the burning urgency in Gaara's touch and bit her lip. When had all of that begun to start? She thought back, trying to get over her shock, to when there had been the slightest sign of…that.

The obvious sign jumped out at her. When she had been attacked in the bathroom. Gaara had become completely overprotective, hell, he had almost stripped her bare! How did she not see _that? _Sakura had completely forgotten about it when they moved in temporarily with Naruto, hadn't given it a second thought.

She recalled how angry Gaara had gotten when he pulled away. What had he been yelling at her about? He had acted like a little boy taunting a girl he liked, and that impression was only reinforced when he had basically ran away. And how dare he be the one that was angry? He hadn't just been assaulted without warning, shocked so much that he didn't even think to fight back! He wasn't the one—

Sakura stopped when she felt a tear run down her cheek. She hiccupped in surprise, then clenched her firsts. She would _not _cry over this! Angrily she wiped her tears away and refused to wallow. This was too ridiculous to be upset about! She was a ninja for Pete's sake! Not some stupid little civilian girl that couldn't handle a broken nail!

Sakura sat up straight, brushing the hair out of her face. Taking a deep breath, she would be mature about this. Gaara had just forced himself on her. Alright. Nothing to worry about. Because he wouldn't _dare _try it again. She would make sure of it.

----------------------------

Gaara sat on the edge of the shower tub, face in his hands. He had turned the shower head on when he had walked—or rather, stormed—in, but instead of getting in it, he had sat down. He couldn't believe what he had just done. He had just assaulted, kissed, and groped Sakura. At once. And then run away.

Frickin _wonderful._

Not only would be have to eventually leave the bathroom—something Gaara was not looking forward to—he would also have to explain himself to Sakura. Enough said.

He sighed. Just one little break in focus had gotten him into such a mess it was almost laughable. But Gaara wasn't quite in a laughing mood. His little stunt had lasted probably about ten seconds, but it wasn't exactly forgettable. Dully he wished that he had at least prolonged the moment, he had barely even gotten to—

Gaara stood quickly, annoyed at himself. He shouldn't be thinking about that. He shouldn't have even acted on those stupid feelings, because there shouldn't have been anything to act on at all. As he stripped off his shirt, Gaara mused darkly, _I knew those stupid things would get me in trouble. I would never be in this situation if I didn't get attached. _Kicking off his pants, Gaara stepped into the shower, not bothering to turn the nozzle when the water burned his skin. _I still say this is all her fault. If she hadn't been so damn…nice. And when the hell did she get so comfortable _touching_ me? And _cuddling? _And eating ice-cream, and wearing those pajamas…_Gaara shivered a bit and shook his head. He quickly got that image out of his head and continued thinking of other ways to blame her for his problem. He felt perfectly justified doing it, she _was _the cause of his change.

After he was done, Gaara scowled. All his thinking had just been to avoid the biggest problem—what to do with Sakura. He couldn't quite think of anything that would make this problem go away. He doubted anyone would be able to think of anything that would work if they were in his situation. Though, he thought wryly, this was a rather unusual position. Being bound to a person you barely knew, forcing you to be around each other twenty-four seven, that was going to lead to something unexpected happening.

Gaara finally climbed out of the shower, deciding to get it over with. He dully dried himself off and changed back into the clothes he had been wearing previously and opened the door.

Sakura sat on the couch, watching the TV. She didn't even turn to look at him, so he couldn't see her expression. Gaara wasn't expecting that, and he hesitated. Eventually he cleared his throat, loudly.

Sakura didn't even twitch.

Irritated at being ignored and forgetting the delicateness he had planned to use, he strode forward to the back of the couch and said loudly, "Sakura."

She looked up with a bored expression, cocking an eyebrow. "What?"

"What do you mean, 'what'?" Gaara said sharply, annoyed.

"It's meant as a question, Gaara," she explained, then turned back to the TV.

Gaara glared at the back of her head. "Oh, so that's how you're going to play it," he said, crossing his arms.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she said blandly.

"I don't know if you noticed, but just a few minuets ago something happened that I thought you would want to talk about," he said, voice cold. He was not going to be ignored, even if he had wanted to avoid the whole conversation. But Sakura was acting like absolutely nothing had happened, and he wasn't having it. If she wanted play hardball, then he would set her in her place.

"Really? Like what?" she asked, not sounding the least bit interested in what he had to say.

"Oh, I don't know," Gaara said airily, "Something to do with the fact you're doing a poor job of giving me the cold shoulder."

"What on earth would give me the reason to give you the cold shoulder?" Sakura asked innocently.

Gaara glared down at her. She was being a brat. Before he could open his mouth and retort, Sakura had stood up from the couch. Without glancing once at him, she grabbed her money from the counter and went to the door, opening it. Gaara watched her without moving an inch.

Sakura rolled her eyes, turning to him. "I need to do errands. You need to come too."

Gaara thought very seriously about sitting down on the couch and refusing to move, thus making it impossible for Sakura to leave, but he decided annoying her wasn't the best thing to do at the moment. And he wasn't going to act like a brat, he wasn't going to lower himself to her level. So, glaring, he followed her out the door.

Their little trip to the market was spent in silence, Gaara getting angrier by the minuet. He was not used to being ignored. It didn't matter that a little while ago he would have done anything possible to avoid talking with her, he was going to put her in her place. _No_ _one_ ignored him.

He quickly began to notice that Sakura was basically wandering around, looping lazily around the stalls and shops. She was buying things she needed, but she sure was taking her time. Finally, when Sakura was comparing some fruit, he spat, "Look, I know you don't exactly want to be alone with me at the moment, but you don't have to waste my bloody time by measuring kiwis."

"Oh, like you would put your time to better use," Sakura said over her shoulder.

"Yes, I would, like explaining a certain _something,_" he dragged the word out, "and getting you out of your little mood you're going though."

"Oh, you don't need to explain to me, I understand well enough," she snapped, breaking her cool attitude and turning to face him. "You're a guy, aren't you? Even though you weren't exactly manly when you ran away, I get it. You've been bound to one girl for too long, and you wanted a little action, didn't you? Don't need to explain to me, you just needed to take your frustration out on something, and I was just there." Sakura said angrily, making a few of the people on the street stop to listen to the argument. "I was just your own personal little stress toy, right?"

"Excuse me?" Gaara hissed, eyes narrowing. "Just what kind of guy do you think I am?" Even though she got a bit of it true, the way she said it was just plain insulting.

"The kind of guy who's a sex-obsessed jerk!" Oh, how that made more people stop in their tracks to observe what was going on. The two didn't notice.

"Sex-obsessed—?" Gaara began. A low growl started in his throat. "Sakura, what the hell ever made you think that? You think I do that to every girl I come across? Are you mental?"

"What made me think that? Oh, I don't know, maybe the fact that just a few minuets ago you practically mo—"

"I did no such thing!" Gaara half yelled, furious. "It was just a kiss!"

"Just a kiss?" Sakura snapped back. "Where you even there? You did a whole lot more than just kiss me, you per—"

"Don't you dare call me that! Especially since all of this is your entire fault!"

The people watching them frowned, trying to imagine what exactly had happened.

"My fault?" Sakura demanded. "How is this my fault? I wasn't the one—"

"Why do you think I did that? Do you honestly think that I would put myself in that kind of position for just anyone?"

Sakura hesitated, confused. But Gaara wasn't ready to stop. "You have no idea how many times I had to struggle with it, too, and when I finally break and try to apologize, you go and act like I did something so unspeakably horrible that you can't bother to hear what I have to say." After taking a deep breath, he snapped, "There, happy now?"

Sakura blinked, wondering why he was getting so defensive and she let her anger fade. "Gaara, what did you mean about what you said before?"

"Oh, now you want to talk about it? Well suddenly I don't feel in the mood," he snapped, glaring at her. Then he noticed all the people around them, and his lips became a tight line.

Seeing his expression, Sakura glanced around. Her cheeks reddened as she realized what a crowd had gathered. To her horror, she saw Naruto and Lee staring at her, mouths open.

When they saw their chance, both of them stepped forward. Sakura wanted to melt into the ground, trying to remember what exactly she had been screaming in the middle of the street.

Lee strode right past her and walked right up to Gaara's chest, glaring at him. Naruto hovered awkwardly by Sakura's side, looking her over as if expecting to see something incriminating.

"What did you do to her?" Lee demanded.

"I didn't hurt her," Gaara said coolly.

"Sakura seems to think different!" the boy dressed in green snapped. "I think I understand what happened well enough to know that you scared her, and that I won't stand for!" Lee said loudly, fists tightening.

"Lee," Sakura began, unwilling to cause more of a scene, but he waved her off.

"Sakura, this man needs to be punished! I know you must be scared after what he did to you, but I will see to it he won't do it again!"

Gaara scowled at him. "Look, I'm not going to fight you in the middle of the street, so go away and leave me alone."

"How dare you act like you did nothing wrong," Lee said angrily. He attempted to control himself, but couldn't stop as he drew his arm back and lashed out.

Gaara was already gone, he quickly moved to Sakura's side and wrapped an arm around her waist, then jumped to the nearest rooftop. Sakura yelped in surprise, but Gaara ignored her and kept going. He didn't fancy a fight with Lee, and if he had gotten into it, then Naruto probably would have jumped in too. Not only would he be outnumbered, both of his enemies had already managed—or come pretty close to—beating him before, and Sakura might have gotten hurt.

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I know this was really late, but as I said before, I was busy. And don't worry, I do promise to finish this not matter what…no matter how long it takes.


	14. Chapter 14

Let's see, this is the…14th chapter? Sure, let's go with that. Have fun.

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"GAARA! Let go of me!" Sakura yelled, squirming.

Gaara scowled, shifting her so he carried her against his chest, and kept going. He knew that Lee—and probably Naruto—would be chasing after him. Sakura instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck, but quickly pulled her arms away to push at his chest.

"Stop that," Gaara said sharply.

"I don't want you touching me!" Sakura snapped.

Gaara rolled his eyes and tightened his grip, so Sakura was pinned against him.

"Let go of me!"

"I'm kinda busy at the moment," he said.

"I'm not! Lee is going after you, not me!"

"Would you," Gaara dropped to the ground when he reached the trees, "be quiet?"

"No I w—"

Gaara suddenly set her down and shook her by the shoulders. "Look, I don't see why you are getting so angry."

"It's because you keep touching me!" Sakura shook off his hands and stepped back. Gaara grabbed her wrists and yanked her towards him, scowling at her.

"Sakura, before, you would let me touch you all the time. In fact, if I remember correctly, you would ask me to hold you at night," he said coldly.

Sakura repressed a shiver, his face was close enough to hers that she could feel his breath on her face. "That was different! That was before you—"

"Did this?"

Gaara pressed his mouth against hers, hard. He had had enough of her yapping away at him, and he knew this would shut her up. Sakura stiffened, then yanked away, "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" She freed one hand and started rubbing her mouth with the back of it furiously, turning her head away. Gaara grabbed her chin and kissed her again. Sakura used her free hand to scrabble at his, so he pulled it down. But Sakura shook him off and tried to take a step back, so once again Gaara had to yank her back, this time holding her wrists behind his back.

He was angry at her for being angry at him. He was bothered that what he did that morning seemed to have no affect on her other than making her angry. Seeing Sakura try to wipe away his actions made him even angrier. He was angry at himself too, for even starting this, but wasn't ready to stop. He liked the feeling of her body held against his, his mouth on hers. It didn't help that she obviously did not share his opinion, and wanted exactly the opposite.

Sakura winced, "You're hurting me," against his lips, but he only muttered back, "Stop fighting and it won't hurt." Even as he said it, he softened his grip, but didn't make it any weaker.

Sakura scowled and tightened her lips, but stopped trying to pull away from him. She knew it was useless anyway, he was too strong. After a moment, Gaara pulled away. "There. Now see, was that so bad?" he demanded.

Sakura opened her mouth to respond yes, it was, when he saw her expression. "Sakura, before you answer, let me remind you of the little sound you made."

"What sound?" Sakura asked sharply.

"The sound you made when I ran my tongue over you're lips," he retorted, mouth pulled up in an irritated smirk.

"I did no such—"

Gaara kissed her again, and Sakura forgot to be angry when she felt his tongue in her mouth. Before she regained her senses Gaara had a hand in her hair, pulling her to him. He pulled away after a moment and watched as Sakura quickly ducked her head and wiped her mouth, face red. Gaara noted she made no move to show she protested his hands on her.

"Could you _please_ stop doing that," she asked after gathering her thoughts, sounding rather irritated. She knew that after having that done to her she should be furious, she should want to kill him. So why didn't she? Where was the Sakura that could stand up to anyone?

"Why?"

"You—"

Sakura's words were cut out as a blur of green suddenly flashed in the corner of her eye. Gaara sensed it and dropped to the ground, dragging Sakura with him. Sakura landed on her back, Gaara on top of her, and as she cocked her head back to see what was going on she saw Lee land in the grass nearby.

"Get you're filthy hands off her!" Lee demanded, taking long strides forward.

Gaara got to his feet, still standing above Sakura. "Look, I don't know what you think happ—"

"You did it again, didn't you!" accused Lee, eyes on Sakura. "Her lips are swollen!"

Sakura quickly bit her lip and scrambled to her feet, but Lee had already launched himself at Gaara, and the two teens meet with a dull crunch. Lee nimbly leaped away before Gaara could land a hit, then attacked from another angle.

"Stop it, both of you!" Sakura yelled. She looked for an opening to separate them, but she knew they were both out of her league, jumping between them would be quite stupid.

Gaara managed to clip Lee in the cheek, but he responded with a crushing kick in the stomach that sent Gaara flying. He smashed into a tree and a grunt escaped him, but he was on his feet in seconds. Sakura quickly saw her chance and quickly jumped up to him, hands on his shoulders. Over her own shoulder she called to Lee, "Calm down, Lee. This is just a big—"

Gaara stepped around her and threw himself at the other man. Sakura stared at him, opened mouthed. She had just started to give him a chance to avoid a fight, and what does he do? Shove her out of the way? Was he stup—

Suddenly she was grabbed from behind. Sakura looked down and saw black-clothed arms wrapped around her middle, she quickly snapped her elbow back and it connected solidly with something hard—a cheek, perhaps. The resulting cry made Lee and Gaara turn around. "Sakura!" they yelled together, and quickly dropped their fight.

Sakura had already loosened the grip around her and saw the man behind her was dressed in the black uniform of the other ninjas that had attacked her and Gaara—and threw a first into his face. He dodged it, ducked as Lee kicked for his head. He leaped back a safe distance and three more identical men leaped down from the trees.

"The girl wasn't supposed to know how to fight," the man with a bruised cheek growled.

"There wasn't supposed to be another boy either, but we still have to get the job done," a second snapped.

Sakura silently cursed. She hadn't been carrying her weapon holder since she wasn't being assigned to any missions.

"Sakura, who are these people?" Lee asked, taking his place by her side.

"No friends of mine," she said quietly, her throat dry. They were outnumbered, and possibly out of their league—she didn't know what kind of level her attackers were. She summed up that the man that had grabbed her wasn't that good, if he gave up after just one blow to the face—but that didn't mean the others were as weak.

"I am so sick of these idiots," Gaara growled, fists clenching. "Sakura, watch yourself until we know their skills."

"I can take care of myself," she huffed, thought when she swallowed it felt like there was a lump in her throat. She knew her skills were rusty.

She saw two of the black dressed men shift, and the rest of it was a bit of a blur. She remembered punching, kicking, the sting in her knuckles supported that, but she felt like her mind had taken the backseat and her body took over. Her elbow crunched into a back, she was struck in the shoulder with something sharp and leaped back.

At first, since there were four attackers and only three defenders, Sakura was confronted by two men. But they quickly learned not to, that only made Gaara and Lee more vicious defending. She remembered seeing Lee just barely miss a kunai, Gaara tackling someone. She remembered falling hard on her back, but didn't remember getting up which was a little odd because then she was knocking against a tree.

When Sakura finally could remember each detail about what she was doing, Gaara was pulling her to her feet. She didn't have time to protest when he patted her down and looked her over. She looked around and saw two men tied to a tree (dully Sakura wondered where the rope had come from), another was dead, and that looked like someone had broken all of their limbs, Lee standing over him, panting. She was surprised that they weren't making any noises, when she realized that they were unconscious. And why did she feel so dizzy?

She tottered a bit and Gaara grabbed her elbow to steady her. Lee looked over his shoulder and protested, "Sakura-chan, you're bleeding!" He took a step forward, but Gaara scowled at him and ripped a piece of cloth from his own shirt, tying it securely around her upper arm.

"Why don't you go and get someone down here, like Kakashi," he said sharply. Lee glared at him.

"Don't think I haven't forgotten," Lee warned. "But this seems more urgent. I'll get to you later." Then he was gone.

A silent moment passed, and then Sakura asked, "_Who are all these people_?"

Gaara shook his head. "Trust me, I wish I knew. Maybe Kakashi could shed some light on this when he gets here."

Sakura noticed he hadn't removed his hand and shook it off, to his displeasure. But it proved to be a stupid move, because she teetered backwards and Gaara grabbed her again, this time on both arms. "Are you alright?"

"Blood loss," she muttered, stepping out of his grip—slowly, so she wouldn't get dizzy. She sat on the ground and looked at Gaara's feet. Her muscles were still tensed, she expected to have to leap into a fight. She slowly breathed out, calming herself.

Gaara glanced at the bodies, then back at Sakura. His lips tightened into a hard line and his fists clenched. Once again his thoughts returned to how fragile she seemed. She looked so weak, her shirt bloody, eyes closed. He thought back to what he did to her, and he looked away. If she could barely handle a simple fight, how would she deal with a psychotic partner?

Sakura looked up at that moment. She blinked, and then stared. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"What?"

"There's pity in your eyes," she said sharply.

"I don't kno—"

"Gaara, I've seen that look enough times to know what is. What, you don't think I can handle a little fist fight?" she demanded, standing. Sakura didn't know why seeing him look at her made her angry, but it did. "Well, I've got news for you. A little blood loss isn't going to slow me down."

Gaara took a step back, confused at where all of her hostility was coming from. "Are you still angry about what I did?"

"Yes, I am. But I don't want you thinking that I'm some kind of feeble girl that needs protecting!"

"Sakura…"

She clenched her jaw. She didn't want Gaara acting like her protector, especially after what he did to her. She felt that when she hadn't pulled away when Gaara had last kissed her she had only encouraged him. "We'll talk about it later. Right now we have much more important things to take care of," she said in a clipped tone.

As if on queue, Lee returned, jumping down to ground level, Kakashi and Gai behind him. Gai quickly began examining the men, while Kakashi walked over to Sakura and Gaara. "I'm honestly surprised. You three managed to do what I couldn't, and I had a team with me. Then again, certain circumstances might have helped…" he trailed off, eyes lingering on Sakura. She saw a crease in his mask and she recognized a frown. "Sakura, why are you lips swollen?"

Her face reddened with embarrassment and anger. Gaara looked away lazily and Sakura looked down. Lee's head snapped around and he glared with malice at Gaara. Kakashi saw all of this and he cocked his head, glancing between the three teens. Sakura mumbled, "I had an allergic reaction." Gaara turned to glare at her, and she stubbornly didn't meet his gaze.

"Right," Kakashi said quickly, deciding to ponder about this new development later.

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There. Now, I just want to mention, when Kakashi mentioned 'circumstances' he was thinking about Gaara and Lee fighting to protect Sakura. Just thought you should know. I know that my fighting scenes are vague, but that's how I wanted it. Please comment.


	15. Chapter 15

This is so late, sorry! I haven't had much time to work on it, but I like how it came out. Have fun.

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Soon more jounin showed up, and Kakashi told Sakura and Gaara to go home after their injuries were seen to. "But…Kakashi sensei…" Sakura said, suddenly feeling nervous.

"Don't worry, I'll tell you what I find out as soon as I can. Now get some rest."

Sakura frowned. She did _not _want to go home. Not that she expected Gaara to leap on top of her the second no one was around, but needless to say, she was reluctant to be alone with him.

"Let's go, Sakura," Gaara said over his shoulder, already walking away. Sakura hesitated, glancing between him and Kakashi, then sighed and trotted after him. The walk back was a quiet one. There were a lot of people on the street, even though it was getting dark. It took them longer than usual to reach her apartment, but Sakura wasn't complaining.

Inside her apartment, Gaara immediately went to the couch. Sakura shifted uncomfortably by the doorway, then decided to find something to do to keep her busy. She quickly began to make a small dinner, not looking over her shoulder to look at Gaara—no matter how bad she wanted to. She knew her face was red as she prayed he wasn't watching her. Finally she turned around and set the plates down, nervously glancing at the couch.

She couldn't see his head, so she assumed he was lying down. "Gaara?" she asked. "Your dinner's ready…"

He didn't answer, so she walked around the counter to glance over the back of the couch. Gaara was lying there, stretched out and apparently asleep. Sakura gaped at him. How he could he fall asleep? She was the one who was exhausted, physically _and_ emotionally. It wasn't fair that he could just go out like that!

She sighed. She shouldn't be thinking like that, she sounded like a brat. Her eyes wandered over him dully, thinking about what had happened that day. She remembered what one of the attackers had said, something like 'the girl wasn't supposed to be able to fight.' That made her a bit annoyed. They hadn't even assumed that in a girl from the hidden village couldn't fight. Just like how Gaara hadn't thought about how she would feel when he kissed her.

Her eyes fell on the kanji on his forehead and she rubbed her arm. She quickly turned away and went back to the counter, placing both of the plates into the fridge. She would eat later. She was too tired anyway. She wistfully thought of her bed, but she knew that it was too far away for her reach it. So she looked between the chair by her small television and the couch. She weighed her options. The chair was tiny and she doubted that she would be able to fall asleep in it, but the couch had a male teenager currently on it that had just given evidence that he was much more interested in more than being just roommates. She sighed and sat down on the far side of the couch, pulling the blanket off the back and draping it around her like a protective barrier. She glanced over at Gaara and hesitated, then stretched the blanket out to cover him up to his waist. Sakura tucked her feet under herself and leaned against the arm, not daring to think about what she would do when she woke up.

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Gaara rolled over and nearly fell off the couch. He quickly caught himself, wondering why he wasn't in Sakura's bed. He saw her curled up at his feet, deep in sleep. He watched her for a bit, then threw an arm over his eyes and decided to go back to sleep.

But then there was a knock on the door. He ignored it for a few moments, but then the visitor began knocking with more effort. Gaara groaned, sitting up carefully and, trying not to nudge Sakura, stroke over to the door. He opened it, a scowl plastered on his face.

Ino stood in front of him; looking a little surprised that Sakura wasn't the one to greet her. She quickly got over her confusion and said, "Can I talk to Sakura?"

"No."

Ino had to hold her tongue to keep herself from snapping at him. She had always been a bit afraid of him, and she didn't need to make him angry. "Why not?"

"She's asleep."

"It's eight in the morning! Get her up!"

"No." Gaara thought about closing the door in her face, but he didn't want a screaming teenage girl on his case. He didn't want to wake Sakura either, so he stepped out onto the landing and shut the door behind him.

Ino huffed, crossing her arms. She saw that she would just have to talk to him. "Look, I heard that the two of you got into a serious fight the other day. That's what I want to talk about."

"Sakura's fine. She did get a little bruised up, but she can handle it."

Ino stared at him, mouth open in horror. "You…you _hit her_?"

"What? No, of course not!" Gaara gave her a quizzical look. "The attackers did."

"Attackers? What are you talking about?"

"What are _you_ talking about?"

"The fight you two had in the middle of the street. But when did you get attacked?" Her voice was loud and stressed. He was glad he had shut the door.

"Look, she's fine. She's just sleeping it off. Now, if that's all you were going to talk to her about, then go away."

Ino wasn't going to stand for that. If she wasn't going to get answers from Sakura, then she would get them from Gaara. "Why were you two fighting in the middle of the street?"

"That's none of your business."

"From what I heard, apparently you two had quite an interesting argument. Someone said that you—"

"I'm not going to tell you anything. Go away. Now." He turned and grabbed the doorknob.

"You honestly don't think I'll just go away, do you?"

"Actually, yes, I do." He stepped inside and closed the door in her face.

Ino raised her fist and Gaara opened the door. "I wouldn't be doing that," he said dangerously. "Now shoo."

The glare he gave her was enough to make her turn around and hurry down the stairs. Gaara retreated back into the apartment, looking at the couch. Sakura was still asleep and he leaned over her, frowning. He tried to figure out what her mood would be when she woke up. He leaned closer, folding his arms on the chair, staring at her. Dully he wished she would be as calm as she looked right now, but he highly doubted that.

Just then Sakura opened her eyes a bit, saw Gaara, and jerked upright, giving off a small shriek. She connected quite solidly with Gaara's nose and he stumbled back, blinking away stars. "What the hell, Sakura?!" he demanded, hand pressed against his nose in attempt to hold back the blood.

"What were you doing?" she snapped back, pressed against the couch. "What were you doing over me?"

Gaara ignored her and pinched his nose, eyes clenched. Sakura quickly realized what she had done and scrambled over, sputtering apologies. "Did I break it?" she worried, standing.

Gaara turned away from her and titled his head back, thinking, _I'll never live it down if a girl with pink hair broke my nose. _

"Don't do that. All the blood will go to you're stomach and you'll get sick." Sakura grabbed a paper towel from the kitchen and tried to press it against his nose, but Gaara turned away again. "Stop that." She grabbed his arm and led him into the bathroom. She pulled away his hand and held the towel to the bleeding appendage. Gaara noticed she didn't release his wrist and looked at her face with calculating eyes, but she was only paying attention to his nose.

Soon the bleeding stopped and Sakura went to work cleaning off the blood that had fallen on his face, silently scrubbing it off. Gaara made to jerk his head away but she grabbed his chin and held him still. Gaara scowled and was about to tell her to let go when he stopped himself, suddenly smirking.

"What is it?" Sakura asked without looking away from her work, moving her hand down to rub away a few drops that had fallen onto his chest.

"Doesn't this remind you of something?" Gaara asked, eyeing her.

"Not really…I don't remember making you bleed all over my carpet before."

Gaara rolled his eyes. "I was talking about yesterday."

"Yesterday?" Sakura questioned. "What…oh." Her voice quavered a bit and her hand stilled. She just then realized how close she was standing to Gaara and went to slide away, but Gaara casually braced his arms on the countertop, one on either side of Sakura. She leaned back, staring at her feet. "Gaara…" she muttered.

"Yes?" he prompted.

"D-don't…" Sakura knew she was blushing.

Gaara leaned in closer so their chests were touching, thoroughly enjoying himself. "Don't what?"

Sakura shook her head, hands still on his chest. She wondered why she was always so easily flustered. Having a half-naked teenager leaning against her wasn't going to help.

Gaara took her silence as uncertainty and decided to push her in the direction he wanted. Maybe being aggressive wasn't the best choice. "Sakura, I won't if you don't want me to." That was at total lie, of course, but she didn't have to know that.

Sakura blinked and looked up at him, surprised at his sudden change. She wasn't prepared for the smoldering look she received. "Ah…" she stared at him, leaning away in confusion. "I…"

Gaara leaned in a bit closer, and Sakura didn't move away. His nose was almost touching hers, and he saw her gaze gravitate towards his mouth.

"Gaara…"

He kissed her, but much softer than he had before. He drew away and was pleased to see that her eyes were still closed. He took that as a go ahead and kissed her again, this time feeling her return the favor.

Sakura was reluctant when he pulled away a second time and tried to follow him, going on her tip-toes. Gaara was surprised and took a step back. Sakura blushed when she realized what she was doing and ducked her head, turning to the door, but Gaara wasn't ready for his victory to be over so soon. He pulled her back and kissed her hungrily, arms wrapping around her.

Sakura stiffened and arched away from him, pressing her lips tightly together. Gaara scowled and demanded, "What?"

The return to his usual personality solidified her want to get away from him. "Let go of me."

"What? Why?" he asked quizzically. She had just completely accepted him seconds ago, so what was the problem?

"You tricked me," she accused, though she blushed a bit as she said it. How could she fall for such a stupid trick? She moved her hands down his arms and was about to push him away, but Gaara had a different idea in mind.

Without warning he lifted her up and sat her down on the counter, holding her by the hips so she couldn't squirm away. He leaned in real close and whispered, "You liked it."

Sakura pursed her lips—she didn't have a response to that.

Gaara smirked at her silence and looked at her brazenly. "You want me to do it again, don't you?"

"No."

Gaara rolled his eyes and pulled her closer.

"Do it and I'll bite you," she informed him darkly. She had a feeling that kicking him wouldn't do much.

"I don't mind," he chuckled, and leaned in.

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Sorry it's short, but if I just wanted to update since its been so long. Please comment.


	16. Chapter 16

Alright, next chapter. It's late, I know. It will always be late, so please stop demanding me to update it. Anyway…let's see if Sakura really does bite him.

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Before she could blink, Gaara's mouth was on hers. Sakura was true to her word, and bit him as hard as she could. Gaara was surprised and yanked away. He didn't _actually_ think that she would bite him. "Told you," she said darkly. "Now—"

Gaara covered her mouth with his hand and began to kiss her neck. Sakura wriggled and Gaara wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her off the counter, holding her still.

Sakura wasn't about to let him control her again. She worked out of his grip and grabbed his arms, glaring at him. "Gaara, would you stop?!"

Gaara held back an irritated sigh. He looked at her sternly. "Sakura, just minuets ago you were completely into it." He realized that if he kept jumping on Sakura, she wouldn't get any more accepting. So he let her have her moment.

"That's because you were being nice. Now you're being a jerk!"

"So?" he asked quizzically, not seeing the problem.

Sakura looked at him. Apparently he hadn't been let out of his room for the last sixteen years. "No one likes a jerk."

"Oh, but a jerk pretending to be nice is better?"

Sakura had no idea how the two of them went from kissing on her bathroom counter to talking about society and its quirks, but she'd take it over Gaara harassing her. "It at least shows he's trying," she muttered, quickly pulling her hands away.

"I _am _trying."

Sakura blushed. She wished Gaara wasn't so blunt. "Yes, I can see that. But Gaara…I just don't know what you want."

"I thought it was obvious. I want _you_," he said simply.

She couldn't believe he had just said that. To her. "What?" she asked stupidly.

"I want you," he repeated, a little slower.

The words clicked inside her head, and suddenly her mind was in overdrive. _Why did he have to be so blunt?! What the hell does he mean? And when did he learn to do that smoldering thing with his eyes? Was he serious? When did it get so hot in here?_ Sakura turned hurriedly, but Gaara grabbed her arm.

He didn't turn her around, and his grip was loose. He knew Sakura responded better when she didn't feel threatened. "Sakura," he said calmly, "it must have been obvious. Why are you acting so shocked?"

"It's a lot different knowing than just wondering!" she told the door, her face on fire. "Gaara," she turned to face him, then bit her lip when she saw his face and quickly looked away. She continued weakly, "This isn't…"

"Isn't what?" he coaxed. Gaara was surprised that just being gentle could calm someone down so much. He made a mental note to try it more often to see if it worked on other people. He wondered how else he could calm her down.

Sakura felt him slowly slide his hand down to her own and felt him move closer to her. "Sakura?" he asked quietly into her ear.

"Gaara, why are you doing this?"

"I already told you why."

"I want more than that," she said.

Gaara was losing patience, but knew if he pressed her, she would run away. And then he would have to do this all over _again_. He gently turned her around, looking her in the eyes. Sakura met him, if a little timidly. "That's all I got."

"But—"

"No." Gaara shook his head. "Sakura, make up your mind. I know what I want. Now tell me what you want."

Sakura wasn't sure what to say. She lowered her gaze and muttered, "More time."

He shook his head again. "Besides that."

"I don't know."

Gaara kept his irritation from showing. He wanted her to say it. But if she didn't decide soon, he wouldn't have the patience to hold back. He leaned forward, bracing his free hand on the door behind her. Sakura shrank back a bit, nervous that he was going to resort to strength again. But he didn't. All he did was give her the look he had newly perfected that made her stomach flip. "Sakura, what are you afraid of? I promise I won't hurt you."

"Gaara, how do I know that I can trust you?"

"How do you know you can't?" he responded.

Sakura raised an eyebrow. Gaara realized that wasn't the best thing to say at the moment. Sakura opened her mouth, and Gaara quickly covered it with his own. He couldn't wait any longer for her to make up her mind.

Sakura didn't fight him. He wasn't being overpowering, like before. Gaara knew not to press his luck like he had done last time and kept his kiss short and light, even though his body was positively screaming at him to do a whole lot more. His hands were begging to touch her, but he kept them sternly on her hand and the door. Sakura's reaction didn't make it any easier.

She leaned into him, a tiny breath escaping her lips. Her hand ran up his bare chest to his neck, just barely pulling him closer. But that was acceptance, and Gaara's body immediately recognized that and it didn't understand anything about boundaries. He had a lot of trouble holding back.

He released her hand and slid his arm around her waist, pulling her to him. She timidly wrapped her arms around his neck, going up on her tip-toes. Gaara was understandably distracted, so he couldn't quite calculate how far he could go at the moment. But due to his sudden occupation, he didn't quite care. All he cared about was that he had her where he wanted her.

He was suddenly kissing her neck, her collarbone…a tiny little whimper escaped her and she blushed, embarrassed. But Gaara didn't notice and was making his way back up to her mouth, his hands roaming around aimlessly on her back.

Someone knocked on the front door and Sakura jumped, pulling out of his grip. She turned for the door, but Gaara grabbed her back. "Gaara!" Sakura protested, reaching for the doorknob futilely as he held her.

"No," he mumbled, burying his face in her hair. "No more distractions."

"B-but—"

Gaara, once again, covered her mouth with his.

She heard the door open and began to struggle harder, reaching backward for the door. Gaara grabbed her hand back without any effort.

"Sakura…?" a voice questioned. A little bit of Sakura died inside when she recognized it as Kakashi. She didn't want her _teacher_ to find her hiding in the bathroom with Gaara practically on top of her! "Gaara? Are you here?" _Oh god, go away, go away! _Sakura's heart was pumping in her chest and she squeezed her eyes shut. Kakashi was like a father figure to her, she did _not _want him to see this! "Alright then…" he mumbled. "Guess I'll come back later…"

_Yes, go away! Just plea—omigod, is that his _tongue?!

Sakura jerked away, shocked. Gaara was looking down at her with a rather pleased look on his face, and she glared up at him. But Gaara didn't care.

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I'm not really happy about how this was basically only a really long make-out session. I couldn't really think of anything else…I'm a little fried. I'll put more of a plot in the next one… But anyway, as always, please comment.


	17. Chapter 17

A lot of you mentioned how Gaara was acting out of character. I did that on purpose. Gaara isn't being sweet because that's the way he is or that he wants to—he's doing it because he knows Sakura won't have him any other way. Just wanted to clear that up.

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It had been a while since Gaara had seen Sakura blush so much, and he liked it. He kissed her neck as he let his hand slid around to her stomach—he had enough of entertaining her. Slowly he slid his fingers under her shirt and let them travel upwards, over her naked skin. The second Sakura realized what he was doing she shoved him away, shocked.

Gaara stumbled back, confused. Every single time she pushed him away! Every single time!

Sakura's shock quickly turned to anger. "What the hell were you thinking?" she demanded, hugging her stomach with both arms and stepping back. "You took advantage of me, again! Gaara, you say that I can trust you, but every time I let you in you mess it up!"

Gaara looked at her, not quite understanding what she was talking about. Apparently she believed this was his fault, as always. What had he done this time? All he had tried to do was touch her, what was wrong with that?

"I was right!" she continued. "You _are_ a sex-obsessed jerk!"

"Would you stop calling me that!" Gaara snapped. "For one, I am not _sex-obsessed_, and second, you need to stop doing that!"

"Doing what?" she demanded.

"Yelling at me for no apparent reason, that's what! It doesn't make sense to yell at me if I don't know what's wrong!"

"No apparent—you're joking, right? You have no idea why I pushed you away?" she asked, still angry. This was his fault, no matter what, and she wasn't going to forget that.

"All I did was touch you, and suddenly you bite my head off! Of course I don't know why you pushed me away!" Gaara's head hurt, he wasn't used to yelling so much… or being yelled at, for the matter.

Sakura put a hand to her face. "What?" Gaara asked. Sakura sighed and grabbed the doorknob, opening the door and quickly walking out. Gaara had a lot more to learn if he thought that trying to grope her was considered just touching her. _It isn't his fault_, she tried to reason. But that didn't mean that she would explain it to him.

Gaara registered that she had calmed down, but had a feeling that she wouldn't put up with him trying to get a little action at the moment. Dully he wondered if all guys felt this frustrated when they were with their women…

Wait, what? Did he just refer to Sakura as his woman? No, that wasn't possible, he didn't…did he? Yes, yes he did. Gaara shook his head. What he would give to not have these ridiculous feelings for Sakura…

Sakura turned her head when there was a knock on the door. Maybe Kakashi had come back? She opened it and saw Ino. "Ino? What are you doing here?"

Ino frowned. "I'm guessing that Gaara didn't tell you I was here earlier, huh?"

"No, he didn't…" Sakura said, looking over her shoulder to glance at Gaara. _Not that we had much time to talk…_ "What is it?"

"I wanted to find out about that fight you two had." Ino stepped past her into the apartment. "But before that, explain to me what Gaara meant when you were attacked."

Sakura frowned. How could she explain something she didn't understand herself? "Ino, I don't know what happened myself."

Ino didn't really believe her, but she decided to ask about it later. "What about the fight you had in the middle of the street?"

Sakura blushed and looked down. "Um…well…"

Ino saw her sudden change and raised her eyebrow, flicking her eyes at Gaara, but he showed no expression. "Sakura?"

She coughed, trying to think up an excuse. "Um, what did you hear about that?"

"I heard _a lot._ Do you want the most colorful version? Or the dirtier one?"

"Ino!" Sakura protested, blushing. "Please tell me you're joking!"

She shook her head. "It's all over the village. Of course, basically no one believes most of the rumors…I was hoping that you could tell me what really happened."

Sakura was too distracted to answer. All over the village? Just what were people saying about her? Was that why Kakashi had come by, to scold her? "Ino…what are they saying?"

"Well, people have been noticing how Gaara's been hanging around the village, always with you…so there was already some rumors flying about…Some people are saying that Gaara has simply just been transferred here and you're his guide, while others have been saying he's watching over his expecting wife-to-be."

"Expecting--?" Sakura gasped. "Do I look pregnant to you? And do you see an engagement ring on my finger?" She waved her hand in front of her face. "What is wrong with people?" she demanded, head spinning. How would she get this under control?

"Sakura, that isn't the end of it…"

Sakura looked at Ino with defeated eyes. Gaara shifted uncomfortably. Why was she so bothered by what people thought of her? Was it because she was being paired with him?

There was another knock on the door. Sakura didn't even bother getting up, she was afraid that it might be Lee. If it was, he would just knock the door down and put Gaara in a choke-hold.

So Gaara opened it for her, blinking at who it was. Ino saw him too, and gaped. Seeing her expression, Sakura turned around and stared.

Kankuro was standing in her doorway, purple make-up and all. Gaara frowned. "What are you doing here?"

Kankuro sighed. "Is that how you greet your brother?"

Gaara wondered why suddenly his relatives were showing up left and right. He glanced back into the room at Sakura's and Ino's shocked faces and said, "I'll be just a minuet," and stepped out, closing the door behind him. "What is it?" he asked his brother.

"The council sent me out to tell you. Temari was attacked on her way back to Suna."

"What?" Gaara asked, fists tightening.

"Don't worry, she's alright. She was injured, but managed to get away. She told the council about how you were also being attacked, and they sent me out to check on you, and to see if you know what's going on."

"They sent you out by yourself?" Gaara asked quizzically.

He shook his head. "The rest of my team is getting settled at one of the inns. They didn't want to come with me; I think this village bothers them. They're not used to the climate; they'd rather stay in the inn room with the heat cranked up."

Gaara rolled his eyes. His brother's team probably just didn't want to see him. "Well, I have been attacked here a couple of times, but I've been handling it."

Kankuro smirked. He hadn't expected anything less of his little brother. "Alright, let's forget about this for a little bit. What have been doing here?"

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Sakura didn't know what to worry about more. The fact that Gaara's brother was here, or that the whole village thought she was being married to a sand-nin.

Ino seemed just as confused. But she decided to stay on topic. "Sakura, will you tell me what happened between you two?"

Sakura turned to her and sighed. "It's complicated." She didn't want to tell Ino about her and Gaara. "We were just having a fight about something and it got blown out of proportion."

"A fight about what?" Ino pressed.

"He was just…frustrated, that's all."

"Frustrated about _what_?"

"Ino…" Sakura sighed. "Look, I'll tell you about it later if you tell me about those rumors."

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"What have you been doing here?" Kankuro asked.

"Nothing, really."

Kankuro raised his eyebrows. "Gaara, I know you're not hanging around here for no reason."

"I don't want to talk about it."

Kankuro frowned. "Okay…but hey, this village sure is weird, huh? On my way over here I heard these two old crones gossiping about some girl…what was her name? Sakura? Yeah. Well, apparently, she had two guys fight over her in the middle of the street, declaring their love for her! One even proposed to her right there on the spot! Can you believe that? What a crazy village…and some old woman congratulated me on becoming an uncle…Gaara, what is it?"

He had a hand to his face, groaning. Kankuro was right—the people in this village _were_ crazy. There was no proposing, there was no baby, and there was no love declaring! Dear god, these people were out of their minds!

He opened the door and walked inside, shaking his head. Kankuro hesitantly followed him, noticing the two girls on the couch. Was his brother living with both of these hotties? Kankuro now had new respect for his brother. Was he involved with one of them? Or maybe even both? He had never seen him even shown interest with a girl, but Kankuro knew that his little brother must have at some point in time. He made sure to ask Gaara about the sleeping situations later…hopefully he wouldn't mind sharing the blonde…

Gaara went over to the fridge to grab a drink as Sakura said to him, "Well, apparently, there is an engaged marriage, a secret affair that could rival Romeo and Juliet, and possibly a huge cover up...and that's just the tip of the iceberg." She laughed almost insanely, looking like she was either going to cry or punch someone in the face.

Kankuro didn't understand what she was talking about and turned to Gaara for an explanation, but he just rolled his eyes. "Don't worry; it'll all die down soon."

"Gaara," Ino huffed, "Do you honestly think that will help? Sakura's reputation is completely destroyed, thanks to you and that little fight you had with Lee!

Kankuro did understand that, and his head snapped around to stare at his brother. Gaara froze and realized what he must have concluded. "Look, Kankuro, that isn't—"

"You're the one who was fighting over her! She's the girl they were talking about, and you were fighting over her!" he accused, shocked. He had expected his brother to be fooling around, but no guy in his right mind would get so involved that he was declaring his love like an idiot! Only saps did that, and he knew that his brother was not one of them.

"Kankuro, shut up," he said, irritated.

"What were you thinking?" he continued. "Were you the one who proposed to her?"

Ino and Sakura sat there, confused, as Gaara glared at his brother. "I did not propose to her, you idiot—"

Suddenly Kankuro's eyes bulged. "_That's _what she meant when she said I was going to be an uncle! She wasn't crazy!" He pointed at Sakura. "You got her pregnant! That's why you proposed!"

"Shut up!" Gaara yelled. He quickly covered his mouth, eyes crackling. "I did not propose to Sakura, there is no baby! Calm down!"

The two men stood there, being watched by Sakura and Ino for a few moments before Gaara removed his hand.

"I'm not going to be an uncle?" Kankuro hesitantly asked.

"Absolutely not!" Sakura snapped.

"Oh…" he muttered, now realizing that he had just made quite a scene. "Um, sorry about that, it's not that you look pregnant or anything, but I mean, I get excited, and you know, I just thought…I swear you don't look pregnant--"

"Outside," Gaara hissed, and dragged his brother through the door, slamming it behind them.

Sakura flopped onto the couch, arm over her eyes. "Kill me now," she groaned.

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I had so much fun writing this chapter…ah, it was so funny. I don't really know Kankuro's character well, but I like how it turned out. Also, I know that it would be impossible for Temari to have already reached Suna and sent out Kankuro in the time that passed (I think it was only one day), but it was the only way to fit in the plot. Please comment!


	18. Chapter 18

A couple of you mentioned how this story is getting a little long. Its coming to a close though, only maybe two or three chapters left. (That I'm planning on. I might have some strange realization and add more, for those of you who don't want it to end.)

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"How stupid can you get?" Gaara snapped, fuming.

"I didn't mean it," Kankuro began, but Gaara cut him off.

"I'm not done yet. You were just saying how crazy everyone in this village is, and then you start raving like a lunatic at the slightest implication that I'm involved with someone, and that I must have gotten the girl pregnant!" Gaara had to focus on keeping his voice level; he didn't need more rumors flying around about him.

"Hey, it isn't my fault. You would have thought the same if you were in my position," he said defensively.

Gaara crossed his arms and looked at him.

"Okay…maybe not," he said uncomfortably. A moment of silence passed, and Kankuro said, "Look, can I get something to eat? It was a while since I ate…"

Gaara stared hard at him. "Are you going to have another episode?"

If it was anyone other than Gaara he would have slapped him upside the head. But it _was _Gaara…and he liked how his head was connected to his shoulders. So he nodded, and tried to grit his teeth as he said, "No, I promise."

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"Oh, come on, Sakura, it isn't that bad," Ino tried.

Sakura glared at her.

"Look, you still haven't told me what's going on between you and Gaara."

Sakura was about to respond negatively when she realized there was (definitely) something between them. She thought back to the moment they just had vividly, how she _liked_ being held by him, how she _liked _the way he kissed her. She was even beginning to forgive Gaara's constant overpowering habits.

"Um…"

Ino immediately sensed Sakura's uncertainty, and was intrigued by how her cheeks were tinged pink. "Sakura?" she coaxed.

What was she supposed to say? It wasn't like there was a concrete relationship, they didn't really have anything. Gaara had said one or two things about what he intended with her, but still…she didn't know how to make heads or tails of it. And would it be smart to tell Ino about what was going on?

Sakura wanted to tell _someone, _and Ino was actually better than most people she could think of.

"Gaara's been…strange lately."

"What do you mean?"

"If I didn't know any better, I would say he's getting protective of me." Sakura thought back to the fight they had in the forest. Gaara practically ripped the heads off any of the ninjas that had tried to hurt her. And the way he and Lee had fought…Sakura had a feeling that if she wasn't involved, Gaara wouldn't have continued the fight.

Ino raised an eyebrow. "Has he been strange in other ways?"

Sakura hesitated, then muttered, "Yes."

Ino patiently propped elbow on her knee and set her chin in her palm. "Go on," she prompted excitedly.

Sakura thought she looked a bit _too _excited. "Ino, why are you looking at me like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like I'm a lottery ticket with the winning numbers. Stop that. It's creepy."

Ino rolled her eyes. "Sakura, I'm just happy for you. If I've guessed right, I'm happy that you and Gaara are together."

"We're not together," Sakura protested.

"Then what are you?"

"I have no idea," she said, frustrated.

Ino sighed. She'd have to break it down. "Have you hugged?"

"…not really."

"Kissed?"

Sakura blushed furiously. "Yes."

Ino raised an eyebrow. They had kissed before getting close? That was a little backward, wasn't it? Well…Gaara didn't exactly look like the cuddling type…

"Has he slipped you the tongue?"

"Ino!"

She laughed. "It's a joke, Sakura, calm down." She was going to continue her investigation, but fortunately for Sakura, Gaara and Kankuro stepped inside and the two girls quickly silenced. Both of them watched as Gaara opened a cupboard and shoved a granola in his brother's face. Kankuro scowled, but took it. Before Sakura could ask if Kankuro needed anything, Gaara was herding his brother back out the door, shutting it behind him.

"There. Now…how is Temari?" Gaara usually wasn't concerned about his siblings, but he had to ask.

"She's alright. When I saw her, she only had her arm bandaged up. But she looked pretty damn pissed."

"Alright. If that's it, you can go."

Kankuro wasn't expecting his sudden dismissal and frowned. "Gaara, the council wants me to bring you back, for protection. They want all ninjas from Suna together while they try to figure out what's going on."

Gaara rolled his eyes. "I don't need protection. And I'm staying right here. Sakura's the one that needs to be protected."

Kankuro cocked his head. "Why does she need protection? From what I understand, you're the one who's being targeted."

Blinking, Gaara realized he was right. He had always seen the attacks as needing to protect Sakura…not him. He never really thought about it, it wasn't even in question.

It was shock to see that he was the one putting her in danger.

"Kankuro, we'll talk about this later…" Gaara trailed off as he looked over Kankuro's shoulder.

Looks like he had another visitor.

Once again Gaara walked into the apartment, but this time he didn't have Kankuro at his back. Instead, it was Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked, standing up from the couch.

"Hey, Sakura."

"Why are you here, sensei?" she asked, a little nervous that he had heard some of the rumors.

"Nice 'how do you do' to you too, Sakura," he said, smirking underneath his mask. "I came over to tell you that we've got a lead on whose been attacking you."

"Really?" Sakura asked, excited.

"No, I'm just playing a sick joke on you. Of course I have. Now, it's a pretty reliable tip, and I've talked it over with the Hokage. She gave me the go-ahead, and tomorrow I'll be bringing you and Gaara along with me."

"We're going on a mission?" Gaara asked.

"Mhmm."

Sakura smiled widely. The jutsu would be broken! Not that she wanted to get miles away from Gaara, but it would be nice to be able to shop by herself, take some long baths without feeling guilty that she was penning up Gaara in her room. And to step outside without people staring at her! Well…now that all the rumors were flying around that wouldn't be so easy…

"So, are you up for it?"

Gaara nodded and Sakura agreed, "Of course!"

"Good. I'll be back late morning. Pack for cold weather."

Kakashi waved dully and walked back out.

"I guess I should get going too," Ino said, and hugged Sakura. After a jerky and unsure nod to Gaara, she left.

"So," Sakura said excitedly. "We might actually get the jutsu lifted. What do you think?"

"Can't wait," Gaara said distractedly. He was still a little hung up on the fact that he was the one that was putting Sakura in all this danger. And tomorrow, they'd be put in unknown conditions. Scowling, he sat down at the counter.

Confused by his sudden mood, a frown crossed Sakura's face. "Gaara? What is it?"

"Nothing."

_Okay, he's lying. _Sakura twined her fingers together. She wasn't sure if pressing Gaara while he was in this mood was a good idea. "Aren't you excited about finally being able to go back to Suna?"

He shrugged.

Sakura knew she was pushing it and closed her mouth. If Gaara wanted to tell her, he would have. The rest of day passed quickly. Sakura wasn't sure of what she was expecting, but Gaara was distant towards her the entire time. After his sudden and overwhelming attention lately, his mood left her reeling. Why was he acting like that? Had she done something wrong? Or was he upset about something else?

Sakura couldn't think of anything either way. She sat in her chair curled up, watching him as he laid aimlessly on the couch. Seeing him there reminded her of when Gaara had first kissed her and she blushed, looking down. When she turned her head back down Gaara was watching her with a piercing stare. "What?" she asked self-consciously, pulling her knees up.

He watched her for a moment longer, then his eyes dulled and he looked away.

Sakura's eyebrows knit together. She did _not _like when he did that! "Um…I want to take a shower, okay?"

Gaara's only response was to stand up, waiting for Sakura to pass him before actually moving. He walked a little too close for comfort and Sakura's blush grew. As she stopped to open the door, Gaara's breath fell on her neck for a second, then was gone.

Immediately Sakura expected him to wrap his arms around her, kiss her neck, or _something, _but he just ignored her and walked into the bedroom. Sakura stared at the door, blinking like an owl, then hurriedly entered the bathroom.

_I don't know what's wrong with me_, she thought to herself as she pulled off her clothes. _I shouldn't jump every time he so much as brushes my arm! _Annoyed at herself for acting so foolish, Sakura hopped in the shower. _Well, it isn't completely my fault, _she reasoned, _that he's acting so…weird! _Another part of her head chimed in, _he's acting like he always does._

That didn't make her feel any better. She felt like he was ignoring her, and as stupid as it was, she didn't like it. Sighing, she quickly washed up, trying to clear her head.

When she walked into her bedroom, Gaara was sitting on the edge of her bed, apparently waiting for her. Sakura ducked her head and quickly crawled under the covers, facing the wall. A depression in the mattress signaled that Gaara had settled down, and she bit her lip.

After a few moments, Sakura let out her held breath. What had she been expecting? For Gaara to wrap an arm around her and pull her to him? For him to crawl over and snuggle? This was _Gaara, _she reminded herself, embarrassed. What was she thinking?

She was a little disappointed though when she looked over her shoulder and saw that Gaara had his back to her. She didn't understand what was going on. Even before he had expressed his feelings, he would let her get close to him.

Sakura was chilly, confused, and beginning to get irritated. She hesitated, then squirmed forward and stubbornly wrapped her arms around his chest, nestling her head against the back of his neck. He stiffened and Sakura thought darkly _don't you dare push me away. _She thought she deserved at least that much, for sitting quietly through his little mood swings of the day and not pushing him.

But Gaara didn't push her away; he just shifted a bit. Her little show of affection made him feel worse. She completely trusted him, and all he had been doing in return was putting her in danger. It bothered him. He wasn't used to worrying about someone, or feeling guilty. It just wasn't in his nature. But now she was making him experience all this things he would have before left alone quite happily, and he didn't know what to think anymore. Her thin little arms and tiny hands didn't feel right on him. She had proven to him time and time again she wasn't the little baby doll he kept comparing her to, but he just couldn't change his mind.

With a sigh, he rolled over and looped an arm around her tiny frame, resting his head on hers. At least now he felt like he was protecting her. He didn't care if the most dangerous thing in the room was a pair of Sakura's barely worn high heels thrown under the bed. While he was around, nothing was going to hurt her.

Feeling as if she had won some strange little victory, Sakura smiled to herself and quickly kissed Gaara's collarbone, snuggling closer to him.

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For any of you that are going to say that Gaara is OOC, go ahead and say it. To me he doesn't seem like that, but every chapter someone says that. If you are, please be detailed in why. Or if Sakura's OCC too. Anyway, I tried to make this chapter longer. I think it is…please comment.


	19. Chapter 19

Let's see…this is the 19th chapter. Wow. I'm beginning to lose track…I never planned to make it this long. But I like it. Also, in this chapter, Kakashi will be slightly out of character (in my opinion), but some of you might disagree. Hope you enjoy it.

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Gaara woke up with Sakura's back pressed into him, his arm wrapped around her possessively with her hand lazily holding his. He stared at her for a while, completely content, and let his eyes close.

Then he remembered what Kankuro had said and quickly pulled away from her warmth, rolling onto his back and throwing his arm over his eyes with a groan.

He had put her in so much danger, she had nearly gotten killed. And instead of getting angry at him, like any normal person, she insisted that he held her in the middle of the night.

Gaara did not like feeling guilty. He wasn't used to it, but he immediately deduced that feeling guilty just plainly sucked. His relationship with Sakura had been built on danger and violence, and even with Gaara's poor knowledge on couples he knew that wasn't healthy. Sakura should care about this; she should be pushing him away and giving him the cold shoulder. The fact that she didn't made him feel like he was tricking her somehow. Hadn't she realized how much danger she had been put in by just simple association with him?

He looked at her again, this time with calculating eyes. _She can take care of herself, _he thought. Another part of his head replied, _she wouldn't have to if she wasn't bound to you._

Gaara sighed and sat up, still looking at her. She was grown woman who could make her own decisions. And what a woman she was…his eyes wandered down from her face to her neck, and lower. His fingertips gently brushed a barely noticeable bite mark on her collarbone. Gaara stared at it, feeling odd. It marked Sakura as his. It would keep a lot of other men from trying to get romantic with her; it declared she was already taken. Just a simple little mark could say so much…

Without realizing it, his hand had traveled up to his forehead, brushing the kanji. _Love, _he mused darkly. It was complicated and simple at the same time, dangerous and harmless, unreliable and always there, not to be toyed with and always being changed. He stared down at the girl beside him. _Love…has she ever felt it before? Has she ever felt like she would do anything for a certain person, no matter the cost? _Gaara realized she must have, at least with her family. And she probably loved her village, and even Naruto and Kakashi. But had she ever…loved in the primal sense, the kind that was deep in the bones, the longing to find a mate. He suddenly scowled as he remembered one of their first encounters—he had tried to kill her, and the boy…Sasuke. She had protected him just as Gaara had protected her…the look on her face burned into her mind.

His fists tightened and he looked away. She must have loved that boy, to risk her life for him. He stared at her hard as he wondered whether or not he loved her. He wanted her, that was for sure, but love…? He didn't really understand what love was, so how would he recognize it?

Gaara began to get irritated, though he wasn't sure why. He slid out of bed, covered Sakura with the blanket, and went into the bathroom to take a shower.

When Sakura awoke, out of habit she reached for Gaara to curl up against. When she didn't reach anything warm and hard, she opened her eyes. Gaara was no where to be seen.

Sitting up, Sakura frowned. She was used to waking up with Gaara right beside her, warm and comforting. She didn't like waking up alone and bit her lip. Where was he?

Noticing that she could hear the shower running, she quickly deduced where he was. But it bothered her—even to take a shower, Gaara usually waited for her to wake up. For one ridiculous moment she wondered if he actually expected her to join him, then immediately banished the thought. Her face a nice shade of scarlet, she realized she was almost as perverted as he was.

She quickly got dressed and began to pack for their mission. Just as she was snapping her pack closed, Gaara strode into the room, only wearing a towel. Sakura blushed and quickly looked back down at her pack, fiddling with the straps and the pockets under she heard the rustle of cloth.

"What do you want for breakfast?" she asked.

He shrugged, then realizing that she couldn't see him, said dully, "I don't care."

A little put off; Sakura went into the kitchen and roughly threw some bread into the toaster. She wasn't quite sure why she was annoyed, but she didn't really think about it as she pulled out the butter and sat at the counter. The fact that he sat two chairs away from her didn't go unnoticed. She bit her lip and stared down at the counter, confused. Was she overacting and just paranoid, or was Gaara purposely keeping his distance?

The toaster popped and Sakura slid off the stool, but before she even rounded the counter Gaara had grabbed his food and was almost done buttering it. She hesitated, then rolled her eyes and went on with what she was doing. She was just being paranoid. Quickly she sat down and ate, keeping her eyes down on her plate.

Just as they finished, there was a knock on the door. She jumped out of her seat and practically dashed to the door, smiling up at Kakashi when she opened it. "Happy to see me?" he chuckled. Glancing over her head and at Gaara, he asked, "Are you ready? Grab your packs and we'll get going."

Soon enough the three of them were walking to the village gates. Suddenly a thought popped into her head, and she asked, "Sensei, if it's just you, Gaara, and me, shouldn't we have more people with us?"

He grinned down at her. "Who said that we were going alone?"

"What? But then…" Sakura trailed off, seeing someone at the gate. Gaara raised his eyebrows. Even though he didn't really welcome more people around him, he knew that the new comrade would definitely help.

Anko stood by the gate, arms crossed and staring at them. Kakashi gave a brief wave and she shrugged off the wall, walking over to them.

"Hey, Kakashi," she said easily, flashing him a grin, then turned her gaze to the two teenagers. To answer Sakura's questioning look, she said, "I don't have any little squirts to train, and the Hokage knew that I was getting bored. Bad things happen when I get restless."

Glancing at Kakashi, Sakura suddenly remembered when she had first met Gaara…when they went to Kakashi's apartment; he had been mumbling something about Anko in his sleep. She blushed and looked back at the woman, wondering if their little predicament wasn't as coincidental as she made it seem.

Anko didn't see her stare and turned to face the gates, leading the way. The three fell in step behind her, Sakura bringing up the rear. As they walked, Sakura tried to imagine what exactly they were going to find on their mission. Doubtless there was going to be a fight, but on what scale Sakura had no idea. And how long would it take? Kakashi had been rather vague, she realized, about what their mission was about.

Just ahead of her, Gaara walked silently, his eyes trained on Kakashi's back without really seeing it. Sakura smiled to herself—they sure did make an odd group. Anko; an intimidating woman that could probably take on a bear and then eat it, Kakashi; the laid back teacher who read porn in public, Gaara; emotionally unstable with a look in his eyes that said touch-me-and-I'll-kill-you-with-a-paperclip, and her; a bubble-gum pink haired teenager with a fiery personality and an IQ that was off the charts.

None of them felt inclined to start a conversation, so they moved quickly and were soon in the deep heart of the forest. She had expected the silence to make the time stretch on forever, but it did just the opposite. They had a quick stop for lunch, where Kakashi and Anko talked lightly. Sakura sat down by Gaara, but he acted like he didn't see her and just stared at his food. Confused, Sakura remained quiet, and then they were traveling again. Before she realized it, it was dark and Kakashi was declaring that they should make camp. Sakura helped Anko set up the tents as Gaara and Kakashi started to make a fire. Sakura could feel the strain of the jutsu beginning to warn her that just a few more feet and she would hit the barrier, so she took a few steps back. She realized that she hadn't worried about it for a while, she had gotten so used to having Gaara right by her side. For some reason it made her feel distanced from him, which didn't really make sense, but it did. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Kakashi deep in conversation with Gaara. Hesitantly, Sakura looked over at Anko as she pulled the tent straight.

"Um…Anko?" she asked quietly.

"Hm?"

Sakura blushed, unsure, then asked, "Is there something going on between you and Kakashi-sensei?"

Anko didn't even twitch. "What makes you ask that?" she asked easily as she tugged at one of the tent sides.

Sakura fumbled with the stakes. "Um, nothing really…I was just wondering."

The older woman grinned at her. "What, do you want tips for what to do with the red-head?"

"What?!" Sakura squeaked. "N-No! Of course not!"

"Jeez, calm down kid, I'm just kidding. Obviously all those rumors aren't true if you just blush at mentioning…" she trailed off, raising an eyebrow.

"The people who spread those rumors are completely blowing it out of proportion," Sakura snapped, looking at her feet. She didn't realize that Anko had just completely changed the subject.

"Good. Because that Gaara kid would probably flip his lid if his son had pink hair." Anko chuckled as Sakura fumbled over herself with protests. After Sakura had stopped, probably due to lack of breath, Anko continued. "I can tell that you two have something going on. But why is that Gaara kid acting like he's never seen you before?"

Sakura bit her lip, looking down. "You noticed too? I wasn't imagining it?" Her chest tightened a bit.

"Is he just shy? Is it because Kakashi and I are around?"

Sakura shook his head. "No, he's never had a problem with that. If anything, I'm the shy one."

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Kakashi eyed the girls from his position by the fire, his eyes lingering on Anko, then flicking to Sakura. He turned back to Gaara and leaned back on his arms, asking easily, "Gaara, what's going on between you and Sakura?"

Surprised by the change in conversation, Gaara met his eyes. "What do you mean?"

Kakashi shook his head. "Look, I may only see with one eye most of the time, but I'm not blind." Gaara still pretended not to understand—he didn't look forward to explaining his relationship with Sakura to anyone, never mind someone who was practically her father—and Kakashi sighed. Just a few days ago I could tell you were getting all hot and bothered over her."

"Hot and bothered…?" Gaara raised an eyebrow, looking at the older man. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Like hell you don't." Kakashi's tone of voice was calm and friendly, but his intentions were not. "Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but with seeing how you're treating Sakura-_chan,"_ he stressed the word, "something happened. She keeps glancing at you, looking confused."

"No she hasn't," Gaara said. He truly hadn't noticed.

"Yes, she has. I've seen that look before. You've been giving her the hot-and-cold treatment, haven't you?" His voice dropped the honey tone he had been using and grew firm, but he still sounded calm. "What, did she say something you didn't like? Or does she keep pushing you away when you try to get up her shirt? Her skirt? What was it?"

"No such thing happened," Gaara replied evenly, wondering how this conversation had suddenly gotten so serious.

Kakashi shrugged, and leaned in. "Fine. But listen hear, if you dare use Sakura, then drop her, watch out. Sakura isn't that kind of girl, she won't give it up to anybody. If you dare betray her trust, you'll be in trouble. I've seen it done to plenty of young girls with guys just use them for sex and then leave…" Kakashi leaned in, dropping his friendly tone, turning ice-cold. "If you dare do that to Sakura…let's just say, _I_ may not be allowed to kill you, but there are plenty of people who would do it. Sakura is close to the Hokage and plenty of other strong ninjas, like myself, and none of them will put up with you screwing around. Sakura's been through enough."

Gaara blinked. Never had anyone so daringly threatened him like that. He flicked his eyes to Sakura, then fixed his eyes on Kakashi. "I'm not an idiot. I know that. But I would never do anything to hurt Sakura, and I'm not just doing to 'drop her', and I'm not just after sex, so—"

Kakashi cut him off sharply. "Did you just say 'I'm not _just _after sex'?"

Gaara had never been truly intimidated before, but the look that Kakashi fixed on him made his mouth go dry. He ignored it. "Yes. Sakura's a beautiful young woman, so of course I want to sleep with her." He plowed on, quite aware that this was probably not helping him in the least. "But I would _never, ever, _hurt her. And there's no way that I would just leave her, I'm no spineless coward, nor would I go chasing after some other girl the second Sakura let her guard down enough to let me touch her. I wouldn't do that to her."

"You say that now," Kakashi said, voice quiet.

"And I mean it." He said firmly, "This is the first time I've felt like this, and I'm not going to let myself screw it up."

Kakashi was quite for a few moments, then looked back at the girls. Sakura hadn't heard anything and was going around her business, but Anko nodded her head a bit. "Fine. But Gaara, don't forget what I've said."

_Trust me, I won't. _Gaara watched as Kakashi stood and went to help with the tents. Anko let him take her position and walked over to the packs, grabbing some food to cook. She straightened and set a tripod over the fire, hanging a pot of water on it. "Oh, by the way…" Anko began, pushing her bangs out of her face. "Stop giving Sakura the cold shoulder. You're making her worry."

"I haven't been—"

"Don't argue with me. If I say you have, then you have," she said, as if she was talking to one of her students. "You haven't talked to her this entire time. Then again…the talk you had with Kakashi probably wasn't the most encouraging thing…" she sighed, a little annoyed at how Kakashi had handled it. "Just watch your step and you'll be fine. I won't have a problem if you decide to share a tent with Sakura tonight. If Kakashi protests, I'll make him forget about it."

Gaara wasn't sure if she expected him to thank her, but he kept silent. She didn't seem to mind, but just before she called everyone to eat, she leaned over and whispered in his ear, "Just remember. I don't have a problem with you getting closer to Sakura, but I'm one of those ninjas Kakashi was talking about…I could _easily_ get away with killing you if I wanted to. I've had a lot of practice. So don't screw up, and don't you _dare_ hurt her."

-------

That must have been one of the most awkward dinners Gaara had ever had in his life. Kakashi sat by his side, with Sakura on his other. It didn't go unnoticed that Kakashi kept flipping his knife between skillful fingers. Sakura just stared at her plate and didn't say a word, still bothered about how Gaara had been ignoring her. And Anko kept glaring at Kakashi to stop, eventually taking the knife from his hand. By the end of it, Gaara hadn't eaten much, but he wasn't very hungry.

Sakura quickly finished and grabbed her pack, retreating into the tent she was sharing with Anko, wrapping herself up in a sleeping bag. She was rather annoyed at herself. Her she was, on a mission for the first time since so long, and all she could think about was Gaara! Get over it, she told herself sternly. Focus!

It didn't take long for Kakashi and Anko to finish, and soon Gaara was done. They all looked at each other. Gaara was the first to stand, and he turned to the tent he was sharing with Kakashi. The older man grinned to himself and also stood, while Anko glared at both men. As the two of them entered the tent, Anko took a deep breath. Gaara was supposed to do as she said, and go to Sakura! Idiot kid. And Kakashi…she understood his feelings, but threatening the kid like that!

Fine. She'd just have to take matters into her own hands. First she thought that she should just yell at him…but a much more fun idea popped into her head that was sure to work.

She strode over to the tent and threw open the flap. Gaara was just settling down into his bag, while Kakashi was stripping off his shirt. Gaara sat up, confused, while Kakashi just looked at her. "Anko? What is…"

She eyed his naked chest, making sure he noticed. Slowly she drew her gaze up, meeting his eyes. "Well, at first I wanted to talk…but now…" she trailed off meaningfully, smirking at him.

"Very funny," Kakashi asked bluntly, recognizing the tone of voice she was using. "It isn't nice to tease me like that."

"You think I'm teasing?" Anko snapped. "Kakashi, I don't tease you with this kind of stuff! You know that!" She thought about pouting, but that would be a little over the top. "I thought that you would want to…"

"Anko, what's gotten into you?

"What, it's wrong for me to want to be with you? Well, excuse me, like it's my fault that you look hot right now!"

Kakashi looked at her, confused. "Anko, you can't be serious. Gaara's right here, for God's sake!"

Gaara stared at both of them, not quiet sure what do. He wanted to leave, _immediately_, but Anko was kind of blocking the exit (and some part of him wanted to see who would win this little argument—he had heard some rumors about both of them that were quite legendary, with their different personalities this was going to be interesting).

"So?"

"_So?" _Kakashi gasped. "Anko, what's gotten into you? There is a _minor_ in the tent," he pointed at Gaara, "and all you can think of is—"

"Pinning you down and having some fun? Please, Kakashi, I've been thinking about you all day!" she whined. She was a little annoyed that Kakashi was actually denying her, he never did that. This fight was no longer about getting Gaara out of the tent. Now it was personal. "Just kick him out." She quickly crossed the small space in the tent, beginning to shrug off her shirt.

Kakashi jumped forward and yanked her hand away, keeping her shirt on. "Are you _insane_?" he hissed. "Do you want Gaara to see you? He's—"

"Already outside," Anko said happily, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Kakashi glanced around and saw she was right. "But, Anko, they'll hear—"

"Not if we're quiet," she whispered huskily, biting his neck. _Ha! _she thought victoriously. _Knew I would win…where does he get off thinking that I wouldn't get what I want?_

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Gaara took a deep breath, relieved he had gotten out in time. As he glanced about, he saw that the fire had been put out…so that left…Hesitantly he entered Sakura's tent. She appeared to already be asleep, tucked into her sleeping bag. He looked around in the dim light for another sleeping bag…but found none.

Gaara promised himself that he wouldn't get any closer to Sakura before he had taken care of the attacks, due to this whole…guilty/hating himself feeling. But it looked like he wouldn't be able to hold himself to that promise.

As he watched, Sakura shivered a bit and curled around herself. He sighed and kneeled down, gripping the zipper. He hesitated, realizing that just crawling in with her might not be the best thing right now. According to Anko, Sakura was feeling like he had been ignoring her (even though Gaara had no idea what she was talking about, because all day he had just been focusing on the mission), and he had a feeling that Sakura wouldn't be very accepting of him at the moment.

"Sakura?" he gently nudged her. "Sakura…"

She mumbled and uncurled herself, opening her eyes. She blinked when she saw Gaara looming over her. Fighting down a blush she asked quietly, "What?"

"Well…Anko…took my place in the tent."

Sakura only blinked up at him, feeling like she was drifting off to sleep again. His words weren't really connecting in her head.

Gaara waited for her to say something, then realized she wasn't going to. "I was hoping we could share the sleeping bag."

She nodded and moved to the far end of the sleeping bag and Gaara unzipped it, slipping inside. Out of habit Gaara reached out to loop an arm around her and was surprised when she squirmed away. Gaara frowned and looked at her. She didn't look at him and tucked her head into the pillow. "What was that?"

"What do you mean?"

"You don't want me to hold you."

"What makes you think that?"

"You just pulled away from me."

"Your hand was cold," she replied.

"No it's not."

"Fine," Sakura sharply replied, looking at him. "_You've_ been cold."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Figure it out yourself." She turned so her back was facing him.

Gaara scowled at her and grabbed her shoulder, pulling her back. "What are you so worked up about?"

"All day you've been acting like I'm just some other girl that you've never seen before, until it benefits you and you're cold, so like a tramp you try to worm your way into my bed. You were even doing it yesterday afternoon!" Sakura began to ramble, "I don't if I'm overreacting or not, but you seem to be completely tuning me out! First you're all hot, and now your cold, and I don't like it—"

"Sakura."

She quickly closed her mouth, embarrassed but still annoyed.

"For starters, this is a sleeping bag, not a bed, and I am not a tramp."

"Oh, for the love of…" Sakura began to get out, but Gaara pulled her back.

"That was a joke." He quickly wrapped his arms around her from behind to keep her from trying to get away. "Look, I didn't know that I was ignoring you. I didn't do it purposely. I've just been thinking about the mission, that's all. And I'm not just crawling into here because it's warm. I wanted to hold you," he admitted awkwardly.

He felt Sakura relax against his grip and she turned around, looking embarrassed. "Um…I'm sorry about that…"

"Don't worry about it," he said quietly.

Sakura blushed and looked down, that back at his face. "So…you really wanted to hold me?" she giggled.

Gaara rolled his eyes and pulled her closer, nuzzling her neck and kissing her. "I want to do a whole lot more," he whispered, making Sakura blush, "but I'm afraid that Kakashi would personally cut off a part of my body I'm rather fond to." Sakura blushed even darker and tried to weasel out of his grip, but he just chuckled and held her still. "Calm down…I'm not going to pull anything."

Out of experience, Sakura knew he was lying, and she told him so. Gaara chuckled again and muttered, "Sakura, do not tempt me."

Sakura looked away, her cheeks burning. Gaara just smiled to himself and firmly molded her body to his, sighing quietly and settling down to sleep.

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I had so much fun writing this chapter…which helped a lot, because lately I've been dragging these chapters out. My little vacation from writing helped a lot, I think. As I read it over it got a little confusing, but I don't want to rewrite it. I basically made Kakashi the over-protective dad, while Anko the easier going mom. Ah…threatening Gaara was so much fun. Also, in the beginning, I hope you got the part when Sakura woke up alone…if that's happened before to you, you understand the lonely feeling. As always, please review!


	20. Chapter 20

I got a little distracted while I was supposed to be writing this…I got bored and began just kinda shooting out ideas for other stories, and I ended up writing an entire oneshot! Opps….anyway, read on!

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The sun was just barely beginning to light up the tent when Sakura woke up. As she cocked her head up to see where she was, a blush flooded her face. She was lying right on top of Gaara, arms around his neck, legs tangled with his. He obviously didn't mind—he was fast asleep with one arm wrapped firmly around her, his other hand on the back of her thigh, pulling her closer to him. Sakura carefully removed her arms and tried to do the same with the rest of her, but Gaara wasn't allowing it. Her blush grew even more as he pulled her closer—if that was possible—and silently began to panic. She did _not _want Gaara to wake up like this...he'd no doubt take advantage of the situation—but he wouldn't let her go!

After a few moments of struggling and trying to calm herself down, Sakura gave up. With a sigh she set her hands on his chest, resting her chin on them. It was strange to see he him so calm and peaceful. Usually he looked distant, aloof, thoughtful…

Sakura suddenly smiled when she realized what she was doing, tucking her face into his chest. He was asleep—of course he looked calm.

She felt Gaara's arm slid up her back, burying into her hair. She picked her head up and smiled timidly as he set a smoldering look on her. "Good morning," he murmured quietly, glancing down at her. No doubt he was pleased with their positions.

Sakura turned her head away, trying to avoid his gaze. Gaara had a different idea in mind and pulled her head closer, firmly kissing her. She shyly returned it, replacing her hands on his neck.

As always, Gaara saw his chance and flipped their positions, molding his body to hers. Sakura was taken by surprise as he bit her lip and slid his tongue into her mouth, and she pushed him away—not hard, but firmly. Gaara scowled and sat back on his knees, looking down at her as regained her breath. "Gaara," she began, sounding irritated. "Every second we have in private shouldn't have to be so…physical!"

Gaara thought fast and responded, "I'm making up for yesterday."

Sakura only glared at him, thoroughly ticked off. She was getting tired of being his constant make-out buddy. "Look…"

"I thought you liked it when I did that," he said, sounding a bit confused. He _knew_ that she had just been enjoying the kiss.

Sakura pursed her lips to keep from blushing. "I-I do, but not all the time, Gaara. There's more than just being able to make out."

He held back the question 'like what?' He had a feeling that she wouldn't respond well to that. "But…"

Sakura had a feeling that he hadn't meant to say it in such a tone, but there was a little bit of desperate confusion in his voice. _He _is _sex-obsessed, after all, _she thought darkly. She slid out from under Gaara and moved over to her pack, ruffling around it for her warm clothes. It was frightfully chilly now that she had escaped the sleeping bag and Gaara's warmth. Gaara was feeling the cold too and sighed, watching Sakura wistfully.

Finally he sighed. He might as well calm her down and try to make nice. "Alright, you win. I'm sorry." Lie. "The sun isn't even up yet. Just come over here, I won't do it again."

Sakura didn't believe him, but she didn't fancy getting up so soon. "Do you promise?"

"No, not really."

Shaking her head, she went back over to him. Besides wrapping an arm around her, he kept his hands to himself. He'd just have to be content with feeling her against him.

Sakura smiled to herself, ignoring the fact that Gaara was possibly plotting a way to get on top of her again. She enjoyed laid-back moments like these, pressure free and happy moments. It was nice.

They stayed like for a while, until Sakura finally broke the silence. "I guess we gave to get up now, huh?"

Gaara didn't respond, and when Sakura looked up at him, she saw he was asleep. A grin spread across her face as she shook her head and quickly dressed (checking constantly that Gaara was asleep, and not faking so he could peek), letting herself out of the tent. She had some easy to make food with her and began a fire.

It wasn't long before she heard movements in Kakashi's tent, and the man mumbling angrily, "You tricked me."

Anko chuckled. "I didn't hear you complaining last night. And besides, give Gaara a break."

"Why should I? I barely even know him, and I've seen the way he looks at her."

"It's the same way you look at _me_, Kakashi."

"That's my point," he grumbled.

Sakura blushed and ducked her head as the couple exited their tent, blinking at the first morning rays. She glanced at the two of them out of the corner of her eye. She didn't often think about Kakashi's personal life (in fact, when she had first met him, she was sure he was a pervert), and she found it odd that he had found a companion in Anko. Their personalities were so different!

Her thoughts turned to her and Gaara. Were they just as opposite as Anko and Kakashi?

Inside the tent, Gaara mumbled to himself and rolled over, hands searching for Sakura. When he couldn't find her, he scowled and opened his eyes. She wasn't there. Annoyed, Gaara quickly got dressed and stomped outside, eyes locking on Sakura as she passed out food to the adults. He sat down beside her and was about to grumbled at her when she turned and gave him a glowing smile, passing him a bowl. He bit back his comment and ate.

It wasn't long before the small group was back on the road. Gaara eyed Sakura, thinking. Now he understood why Sakura had been upset when he hadn't waited for her to wake up yesterday—it had really gotten under his skin when she hadn't been there in the sleeping bag. That kinda surprised—and bothered—him. He had wanted to touch her, but that was it. Thoughts of sex had taken a backseat in his mind—a new occurrence, and Gaara wasn't comfortable with it. When he had first acknowledged his feelings for Sakura, it had (to be blunt, if a little crude) been about her body. Gaara understood that and knew that it was plain instinct to have those urges, it was nature taking its course. But now…he wanted to be near her, touching her, holding her, to hear her voice, see her smile, make her feel safe. He did not appreciate being swamped by all these new feelings; he didn't have the time nor the desire to deal with them.

Gaara basically saw it in one way—sex: simple. Love: complicated beyond belief and infuriating problematic. Sex…he looked around and his eyes fell on Kakashi's headband. Sex was like a leaf. Sure. Love was the entire tree—the maze of roots, knotted branches…and all the things that lived in it (including the little nasty grubs). A puddle versus a river. A star versus the entire sky.

He quickly stopped himself._ Dear god, _Gaara thought, horrified at himself. He was beginning to sound _poetic. _He made a face. He was being ridiculous and totally blowing it out of proportion. He could just ignore those feelings and act like they weren't there, eventually they would have to go away.

Suddenly Gaara realized that wasn't going to happen. Hadn't he tried to do that when he had first begun to think about Sakura? And look where that got him—sleeping against her every night with her arms wrapped around him. He'd have to face up and realize that just ignoring what was happening wasn't going to work—it wasn't going to just go away.

_And…_Gaara blinked as the idea struck him. _And what would be so bad about loving someone, especially Sakura?_ So what if it was complicated? He had done plenty of harder things. Why should he shy away from this? Heck, it could even be good for him. Being with Sakura had helped him understand people better.

He looked at her—really looked at her for the first time. He trusted her, looked after her, protected her, and could really be comfortable around her, and for the most part he thought she felt the same. That was a whole lot more than he could say about anyone else in his life. She was strong, beautiful, could stand up to him, and courageous—a good partner. And if he actually managed to make this work, just imagine the pups they would—

Gaara fell over his own feet and landed hard on the ground. Yes, he actually fell. The others turned to look at him, confused, and he quickly pulled himself up to his feet, struggling to keep his face calm and act like nothing had happened.

What the hell was that? _Pups_? With _Sakura_? Gaara was more shocked at himself than he had ever been in his entire life, and was having a minor internal panic attack. How on earth had the thought of children crossed his mind? As if he had any parenting skills! And he wasn't even a legal adult yet, now he was thinking about a family? And what with calling them pups, like Sakura was a _dog_ or something—

Gaara yanked himself back to the main problem. He was _not_ going to have children with Sakura any time soon. The mere thought was completely ludicrous, and he forcefully shoved it out of his mind. It kept sneaking back in and he beat it back, determined not to think about it until he and Sakura actually got married—

This time he caught himself before he fell. _Marriage?! _What the hell had gotten into him? He was—He was being insane!

When he could finally bring himself to look at Sakura, he had to look away. _This _was what happened when people thought about love—they acted like plain idiots.

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Hm…I know this is short, but I felt like it should be separate from what's going to happen next. And besides, I just wanted to see what you thought of Gaara's little freakout…


	21. Chapter 21

If it seemed like it has been a while since my update, sorry about that…to be honest, I kinda forgot with all the school projects that have been going on. Anyway, it just pumped this out in about an hour…hope you like it (I really had fun writing it)!

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It wasn't long before they stopped for a quick lunch. Sakura just realized that Kakashi hadn't told her anything about their mission and asked him about it.

"My sources say that there's a small fort of ninjas just a day's north of here. They have been identified as the ones that attacked you. But I don't know whether or not they are acting alone or with another force, and I still don't know why they were trying to kill Gaara. Our main priority is to find out what they are up to, and to get the both of you separated."

That was all he would say on the subject, and Sakura let her mind wander as they started to travel again. Why would Gaara be attacked? Or Temari, for that matter?

The day passed surprisingly quickly and it seemed as if only a few hours had passed by the time they were setting up their tents. Anko told Sakura to wait for a little bit as she watched Kakashi and Gaara begin to construct theirs, then turned to her and asked her to get a fire started. Confused, Sakura did so, wondering what Anko was planning. When she looked back at the woman, she realized what was going on—Anko had waited until it would be foolish to move the men's tent and had set up hers well beyond the distance that the jutsu on Sakura and Gaara would permit.

Blushing, Sakura returned to her task. It wasn't that she wasn't grateful that Anko was giving her a chance to stay with Gaara, it was just that she was embarrassed that Anko wanted them to be together so much that she would do something like this. Either that, or she just wanted to sleep next to Kakashi…

When the others came to eat, Sakura forced those thoughts out of her head. Stop being weird, she told herself sternly.

Gaara made a point to sit beside Sakura, ignoring Kakashi's frown, trying to make sure that she wasn't feeling ignored. The fight they had had the previous night wasn't exactly big, but he didn't it. He had made her worried, and he hated himself for it. As he ate, his thoughts returned to what he had been thinking about earlier that day.

_Love…_he mused, eyeing Sakura. It was one complicated emotion, which came with a lot of baggage. Jealously, joy, fury, comfort, restlessness…and maybe even…fear. He had never been scared for someone, but every time there was danger around his priorities shifted directly to Sakura. He knew he wouldn't be able to bear it if Sakura got hurt because of him—or injured in any way, even it be from tripping down a set of stairs (which, hopefully, a trained nin wouldn't do).

He looked at Kakashi and Anko. Surely both of them had felt it before, if not for long. And they were fine, weren't they? They were alive and well (if a little strange). So what if…?

Gaara sighed and leaned his head back, looking up at the dark sky. A faint smile crossed his lips when he realized that if he had never been bound to Sakura on that fateful day, his life would no where near as interesting. He had learned a lot during their time together. Surely not enough to start a family or any such thing, he forcefully thought, but he had definitely matured.

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Sakura. Acting on impulse, he suddenly leaned over and gently kissed her on the cheek, then returned to his former position.

Sakura, bewildered, just turned to look at him, cocking her head. He just pursed his lip to keep from smiling, acting as if he had a secret, and got up, dusting himself off and walking into his tent.

Three sets of eyes followed him—one confused but happy, another annoyed, the other looking proud.

Sakura blinked and looked away. What on earth was that? He—he never did anything as sweet as that. He had kissed her countless number of times (which was a bit of an accomplishment, given the short period of their complicated relationship), but he always was forceful, using his kisses as a distraction as he tried to do…other things. And in front of Kakashi and Anko like that…!

Glancing over at them, she realized that both of them were watching her. Her cheeks reddened and she hurriedly looked down. The smirk that Anko had given her was enough to make her flustered—as if Gaara had just claimed he be waiting to take her once she stepped into their tent. Was it possible that she was just as perverted as Kakashi?

Scolding herself for thinking that, she quickly stood and made for the opposite tent, too preoccupied to remember what she had realized before—and thus smacked into the barrier, nearly falling over. Quickly regaining her balance, she screwed up her face as she heard Anko try to muffle her chuckles. She clenched her eyes shut, embarrassed and wondering what else she was going to do to draw attention to herself.

"Is something wrong, Sakura?" Kakashi asked.

"The, um, jutsu is…"

"What?" There was a pause as Kakashi looked back and forth between the two tents, and then he turned to the woman beside him, what was visible of his face angry. "_Anko…" _he growled.

"What?" she asked innocently. Anko was silently laughing to herself. Who knew that this mission would give her so much practice on her acting?

"You set the tents too far apart—on purpose."

"I didn't even know they were that far apart, honestly! I didn't do it on purpose."

"There is thirty feet between the tents!" Kakashi hissed. "That's easily more than having them normally far apart!"

"Are you unhappy about having to sleep with me?" Anko asked worriedly, cocking her head and playing the hurt girlfriend card. "I was looking forward to it, since its been a while since we've been together, save last night, and I was hoping that we could just…you know…be together." She frowned and looked at him, then said angrily, "What, only wanting to be around me when I in the mood? Jerk!"

Kakashi sighed, knowing what she was trying to do. "Anko, that isn't true, and you know it. Let's get back to the subject—"

"Sakura's already in tent," Anko said smartly, smirking and biting down on a hunk of bread in front of her.

Kakashi whipped his head around and saw the flap close. "Dammit, Anko, not again—!"

She just laughed and rolled her eyes. "You're too easily distracted. You need to work on it…but for now…" she trailed off, putting her plate down.

"No."

Put out, Anko glared at him. "Oh, don't pout. So what if Sakura's going to be with Gaara?"

"I'm not pouting," he said stubbornly.

"Lair," she huffed.

"And I don't see why you're supporting them."

"I don't see why you're against them, you don't have any reason," she shot back, shrugging.

"I don't need a reason, he's a teenage boy!" Kakashi replied.

Anko made a 'pft' noise, snorting into her shoulder. "Kakashi, you sound like her father. And so what if he's a teen, you were once too…and now that I think about it, you weren't exactly the most innocent guy." She wagged her eyebrows jokingly.

Kakashi shifted uncomfortably. "Hey, I was a kid, and I—this is not about me," he said quickly.

"Oh? Flustered, are you? My my, Kakashi, is that a crack in your armor I see?"

"Shut up and stop trying to turn this around!" he said quickly, hoping she would bring up some of his teenage romps.

"You just don't want me to mention that time when I caught you and Akane—"

"Anko, stop—"

She laughed. "Aw, it wasn't your fault! You were a handsome little kid, and it's a waste that you cover it up." She suddenly pulled his mask down and kissed him, ignoring his scowl. "Now come on, you can yell at me later."

Sakura slinked into the tent—just in time to see Gaara stripping off his shirt, his back to her. She blushed as she saw his muscles shift as he pulled it over his head, bending over a bit, then looked away. Why was she embarrassed? She had seen him shirtless plenty of times—

He reached down and began to fiddle with the buttons on his pants. Sakura froze, letting out a little squeak.

Gaara looked over his shoulder and stiffened a bit when he saw her. An awkward moment passed, Sakura noticed that his hands didn't move from his hemline. "I thought for sure that Kakashi would make sure you slept with Anko," he said finally, wondering why she was blushing.

Sakura watched as he ran a hand through his hair, wishing that her hormones hadn't just kicked in. "Um…what was that kiss about during dinner?"

"Huh? Oh…" Gaara shrugged, just now realizing how out of character that was for him. "I dunno. Just wanted to."

"It…it was nice."

Gaara gave her a questioning look. "You're welcome…?"

"Oh, nevermind." Sakura wished that she stop talking and quickly shut her mouth. Gaara shrugged and stretched out under the sleeping bag. Sakura had a feeling that she would only embarrass herself more if she moved any closer to him, so she looked around for Kakashi's pack, eyes locking onto the sleeping bag that was strapped to the top of it.

When Gaara heard her shuffling around, he turned around and saw her flapping out Kakashi's sleeping bag. Gaara pushed himself up on his hands, not sure what to say. What the hell was she doing?

Sakura jumped when she felt Gaara's hands gently flit over her hips and pull her to him. "U-um…."

"Now, Sakura, you don't want me to think you're giving me the cold shoulder, do you?" he asked jokingly, deciding to take a light attitude about the fact she had tried to avoid sleeping next to him, even though it stung a little.

Sakura bit her lip. What on earth was wrong with her? She never got so jumpy before when Gaara touched her—well, at least not in a while. So why were her skin burning where his hands were? "Ah…"

But then Gaara was nipping her earlobe, having waited all day long to do this, and Sakura melted. She leaned against him, and he wrapped his arms farther around her, nose brushing against her skin. Her hands timidly covered his, tightening a bit when he his lips sneaked over her collarbone…and Gaara pulled away, replacing his lips on her neck.

Sakura blinked, feeling as if he had just pushed her away. Gaara never did that—he had actually _stopped_ when she hinted she was uncomfortable. Nervously she turned around, tilting her head up to meet his eyes. Her hands went to either side of his neck, and she bit her lip. "Gaara? Are you feeling alright?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, not letting his minor irritation show. She needed to stop interrupting him during their private time.

"You're acting really weird."

"Weird how?"

"You just…pulled away, and before, you just kissed me out of the blue, and didn't even follow up on it."

"Kakashi and Anko were right there, Sakura," he said slowly, wondering how alike to Anko Sakura really was.

She blushed. "I—I didn't mean it like that! It's not like I wanted you to, its just that you always…"

"You didn't want me to?"

"I didn't mean it like that!" she repeated, getting flustered. Why on earth was she acting so…spazzy? Maybe she was thinking too much…

"Then what…"

"Never mind," she grumbled, going up on her tip-toes to kiss him. If she kept talking, it would kill the mood (which just might be impossible with Gaara, so long as Sakura was still in the same room), and she would just end up feeling stupid and embarrassed. It wasn't fair that Gaara didn't get all tongue-tied and muddled during times like this!

She took her vengeance by pushing Gaara down do the ground, taking control for once. Gaara was a little surprised, but in no position to complain—in fact, he rather liked this position, a lot—and just propped himself up on his elbows as Sakura settled on his waist, on hand bracing herself up and the other in Gaara's hair.

Ignoring the fact that she was pretty much in foreign territory, she was a felt a bit empowered to have Gaara under her control. With just a gentle tug on his hair, Gaara tilted his head back, along with letting out a sharp intake of breath…maybe a gasp? Moan?

Shocked, Sakura sat back, blinking at him. Did she just make him make that noise? But…it was so…un-Gaara-ish…

He didn't understand why she stopped, and wasn't having any of it. There was a sudden twist, and then Sakura was pressed against the slippery canvas of the tent floor. Gaara's hands roamed as he ran his nose down her neck, but suddenly Sakura said, "No."

Confused, he looked up at her. "Huh? No at wha—"

Sakura smirked, and swiftly flipped both of them. She practically laughed at Gaara's expression, and, ridding on the sudden rush of power she felt, bit Gaara's collarbone, kissing her way up his neck to his mouth, tugging his hair to tilt his head back again.

Gaara was completely stunned. She had just actually forced him into submission—and it was quite possibly the hottest thing she had ever done. He wondered how much more force she would use if he flipped them again, and his pulse quickened at the possibilities.

Sakura smirked when she felt Gaara shift under her—there was no way he was flipping her again, at least not until he made that little noise again.

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Heh-heh…I couldn't help myself. I was having a bit of writer's block, so I fell back on what I usually do—just have them make out. It makes most of you happy, anyway. But, don't worry if you think that's all the rest of the stories going to be (I'm trying to cut down on my habit of random make-out sessions). Anyway…I was looking back on some chapters and a little annoyed at how I was always having Sakura be so timid and shy, so I thought this would be a good change of pace…and plus, I think its about time Gaara got put in his place. I actually like how it turned out (even though I completely flopped at creating a plot in this chapter).

As always, please review.


	22. Chapter 22

I don't know why, but it took me a while to write this, it felt like I had to fight for every little paragraph. I hadn't given much thought to this scene, so I had a bit of trouble working it out in my head, and it was even harder to write it down. Anyway…read on.

(By the way, thanks for all the comments about Sakura taking charge. They made me laugh)

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Sakura hummed quietly to herself as she woke up, blinking sleepily. She was snuggled nicely between the swishy bottom of the sleeping bag and Gaara's warm chest, his body only half on her but still soothing. His arm was slung heavily across her with his face resting on her shoulder. Sakura smiled lazily and closed her eyes.

Her mind wandered, the things passing through her head not really clear enough to be called thoughts, but as her mind woke up, she recalled the previous night. She smiled and felt a little embarrassed, amazed at her brazenness, and even more awed by Gaara's almost complete submissiveness. Who knew? Just a little tug of his hair and a little nip, and he just rolled over. She tucked that information away for later when he gave her a problem…

Something struck her. _'_Later'…_would_ there be a later for them, once this was all over?

The thought hit her hard, making her mind freeze up for a second. Gaara would have to return to Suna once they were separated.

She bit her lip. She didn't want him to leave. She wanted him to stay here, with her. She liked him being the first person she saw every morning, she liked the way he always held her tighter just before he woke up, the way she caught him looking at her when he thought she wasn't paying attention.

She suddenly sat up, pushing herself up with her arms and causing Gaara to slip awkwardly onto her stomach, his neck cocked at an angle against her uncomfortably. He grumbled and blearily opened his eyes, about to snap at her, when he saw her face. "Sakura?" he mumbled, sitting up. "What's wrong?"

She just looked up at him; her face scrunched up, then lurched forward and embraced him, tucking her face into his chest. Completely startled, Gaara grunted a little and stared at the top of her head, arms half going to hold her, half to push her away. "What's wrong?" he repeated, lifting his arms away from his body unsurely.

She just shook her head and hugged him tighter. Making a decision, Gaara grabbed her gently by the arms, forcefully pushing her away and taking her chin in her hands, pulling it up. "What is it?" he asked, voice firm.

Sakura looked away, her eyes bright but not teary. She felt like an idiot and was uncomfortable now for acting so babyish. Gaara's rough handling of her reminded her of who he was—he wouldn't put up with her being so emotional. "It's nothing," she said, rubbing her arm.

Gaara scowled. He wasn't about to allow her to lie to him. He cocked her head up and lowered his own chin so they were eyelevel. "Sakura, tell me what's wrong."

Seeing that he wouldn't let her go until he had an answer, Sakura said, "I just realized…this is going to be one of the last times I'm going to be with you, isn't it?"

"What are you talking about?" Gaara questioned. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Yes you are—think about it. You're a ninja from Suna, you'll…you'll have to go back there."

Gaara frowned, taking in what she was saying, and realizing she was right. How the hell had he not thought of that?

Sakura watched his face nervously, wanting to gauge his reaction. She was disappointed to only see surprise and little else. Didn't it bother him like it bothered her? Didn't…didn't he _care?_

Gaara couldn't think of what to say, so he uttered a simple, "Oh."

Out of no where, anger rose up in Sakura. She slammed Gaara into the floor, hands on his shoulders and looming over him she demanded with a fierce expression, "That's all you can say? Look, I know you're not exactly known for being talkative but I was expecting a little more, even for you!"

Gaara was stunned at her sudden outburst, and just laid there, eyes wide. Not only that, but the fact she had dared to pin him down—no one did that.

Sakura glared down at him for a moment and snapped, "Well? Don't you have anything to say?"

Gaara had enough of her yelling at him and flipped them, making Sakura glare at him. "That's enough," he ordered and covered her mouth. "Calm down."

Contrary to his demand, Sakura only got angrier. She shoved herself forward and knocked Gaara to the ground, pinning his arms down and using her strength to keep them there. "I want an answer, now," she growled.

Gaara was once again surprised to find himself under Sakura, not used to be on the defensive. "An answer to what?" he asked, trying to ignore the fact that all this pushing around Sakura was doing was beginning to really turned him on—it wasn't proper to be thinking like that when she was so upset.

"Don't you care?" she demanded, voice cracking slightly in anger and stress.

"Of course I do."

"Then why—"

Trying to stop a possible rant, Gaara cut her off. Bluntly he told her, "Sakura, of course I care, and I don't think I've done anything to make you think otherwise. And about going to Suna—I will have to go, whether I want to or not."

Sakura scowled, wishing he wasn't being so realistic about this. It sounded stupid, she knew, but she couldn't help it. She wanted him to say that he wanted to stay with her, even though she knew how unbelievably selfish that was. It was just…she hadn't realized how much Gaara meant to her, and for him to act like this was a simple decision got under her skin. And now she had all this anger pent up inside her and she had no reason to yell at him.

She shoved off him, standing up and scowling. Judging that she had finished yelling at him, Gaara sat up. "Sakura, why are you so upset?"

"Because, you jerk, I don't want you to leave!" Sakura snapped in a rush, kicking the sleeping bag. "And you're acting as if you don't care!"

"I just told you that I did care—"

"Words aren't enough!" she exclaimed, spinning to face him and waving her hand.

Gaara stood and grabbed her by the elbow and put a hand under her chin, saying slowly, "Fine then, look me in the eyes and see that I mean it." Gaara leaned close to her and said firmly, "I care about you, Sakura, for better or for worse, and nothing is going to change that, even if I'm hundreds of miles away from you."

Sakura blinked and closed her mouth, her anger disappearing. She just stared up at him. No one had ever said something so tender to her, and for it to come from Gaara…

"Alright?" Gaara prompted, and Sakura nodded numbly. "Good." He kissed her and pulled her against him. "We'll figure this out later…but for now, just calm down and stop yelling," he muttered, pressing his face against her hair.

-----------------------

Later the two exited the tent and were greeted by Anko. She had something over the fire, and it smelt delicious.

"Heard you two yelling," she said. "Everything okay now?"

"Yeah," Sakura said quietly, sitting down and pulling her knees up.

"What was it about?" Anko asked, though she decided not to pester Sakura should she not want to talk about it.

"Just…what's going to happen after this," Sakura said. Her voice sounded tired, and she didn't look at Gaara when he sat by her. She felt subdued after her realization that Gaara was going to leave her and didn't know what to do, so she just settled with being quiet and trying to think it out.

"Ah," Anko raised her eyebrows. "That's right…" A silence passed between the three of them, broken by Kakashi when he stumbled out of his tent, ruffling his hair. Anko smirked at him, waving the frying pan in his direction. "Eat up," she advised all of them. "Today's the big day."

------------------------------

I wonder if you could tell that I trouble writing that? I'm not too sure if it flowed well, but I've been writing this little by little at a time, and every time I read it to go over it, I'm not really taking anything in, if that makes sense. I finally gave up and decided to see what you thought about it.

Anyway, I had to get this scene out of the way before any of the real action started, and I hoped I didn't screw it up. For some reason, I just kept trying to ignore it. (maybe because I don't want this to end…?)


	23. Chapter 23

It has been WAY to long since my last update, and I'm sorry about that

It has been WAY to long since my last update, and I'm sorry about that. Computer problems, school work, and just plain lack of motivation got in the way. For those of you who don't remember, Sakura's just realized that once she and Gaara are separated, they might have to go their separate ways, and it's finally the day when they will reach the enemy camp.

--

Sakura didn't have time to worry about Gaara—Kakashi set a quick pace through the trees and she had to focus on what she was doing. By early afternoon they had reached a broad clearing that dropped off in a cliff, the clearing decorated with small hodge-podge buildings and a few people milled about between them.

Sakura edged over to Kakashi, but before she could say anything Anko said, "Eh, Kakashi, I think its time you told us more details about what we're going to do. Tsunade didn't have time to brief me on it."

Kakashi glanced at her, then at the two teenagers. "I don't think it would be appropriate to talk about it now."

Sakura raised her eyebrows. "What do you mean? Why aren't we supposed to hear about it?"

"Well…the thing is, I don't know if it matters or not, but I'd rather not have the kages from Suna and the leaf village on my case for releasing what might be classified information."

Sakura frowned but let it go. Maybe later she would be able to find out.

"Alright, here's the plan…" Kakashi turned his attention back to the camp, squinting at the people. "Only some of them are wearing those black uniforms, but still, being able to see their faces won't help much, since I was the only one who got close enough to see her," he said, referring to the ninja who had set the jutsu on Sakura and Gaara.

Kakashi paused as he examined the camp once again. From their vantage point, the people milling about were tiny, undistinguishable from one another. "We need to gather information about this group and also get the two of you separated. I'm thinking that the best way to go about this is to sneak in and don't let them know we're here. Doing that during the middle of the day isn't that smart, though, so I figure we'll have to wait for dark."

"Hm…" Anko murmured. "I guess that's okay, we'll have more time to plan and prepare."

Sakura glanced over at Gaara. He had a deep expression on his face and was watching the people in the clearing closely. Sensing her eyes on him, Gaara flicked his gaze to her. She forced a smile. "This is it."

Gaara only nodded and returned his attention to the camp. These were the people that were putting Sakura in danger. And finally he was going to put a stop to it.

They spent the remaining daylight talking and going over a plan. Anko and Kakashi managed to ambush a ninja that had wandered off into the fringes of the trees. After some forceful…persuasion, they learned the where the main building was, where some hopefully useful information could be found. The man didn't tell them anything else, and Anko knocked him out and tied him up.

Finally the sun set and Kakashi had them getting ready. The plan was to go in quickly and stay together, first going to the main building, take what they thought was important, and then search for something that would tell them who had set the jutsu on Gaara and Sakura. Kakashi had told them bluntly that he doubted that it would have been written down, but even if it was they wouldn't have a clue to connect the name to the face.

Gaara thought dully that they could solve the problem by simply killing everyone at the camp, but had a feeling his suggestion wouldn't go over to well. And that would mean they would have to be fighting almost constantly which would put all of them, including Sakura, in more danger than necessary.

Anko bit her thumb. This plan had too many holes in it, at least about the part concerning Sakura and Gaara. How would they get the jutsu lifted if they didn't know who was the one that had set it on them in the first place? There were so many things they didn't know about this place, including why on earth they would be attacking Suna ninjas.

"Everybody ready?" Kakashi asked. They all nodded and set out.

They quickly entered the small camp, jumping silently from roof to roof to avoid detection as the moon rose high in the sky. Sakura was keeping herself calm and collected, worrying about stupid things right now would only get her in trouble.

They alighted on the main building roof, a large, single story structure. Kakashi couldn't sense anyone inside and carefully dropped down into the street, in front of the door. Sakura edged to the lip and saw him trying the door handle, then pick the lock. He looked up at her and motioned for her to follow, slipping inside. The other three followed him, Anko closing the door behind her after checking up and down the street first.

There weren't many windows, so the room was almost completely dark. Deciding that lighting a single lamp wouldn't be too risky, Kakashi moved over to what he thought was a desk and felt around, and soon enough a small pool of light appeared.

Sakura looked around. The room they were in was filled with desks and file cabinets. "Nice," she heard Anko say. "There's sure to be some information here. Start looking around."

Not having a clue as to what she was looking for, she moved over to the closet desk. On it were papers that looked like bills. Sakura shuffled through them, reading each title and skimming some of the contents, then moved on. The next desk was neater, the papers stacked orderly. The first pile seemed only to deal with camp supplies and duties, and after riffling through them she was positive nothing of worth would be found. She moved to the next desk, and as she did so, she saw Anko grin and slid papers into a folder.

The desk that caught her attention had little on it, save for another pile of papers. On the top read a handwritten page titled 'Prisoner List'. Sakura frowned and kept reading. Below was a list of names, followed by a certain crime. "Hey, I think I might have found something," she called quietly. The others came over. Gaara took the list from her and narrowed his eyes.

"I recognize some of these names. They're ninjas from Suna."

Kakashi grabbed the paper and quickly scanned it. "You're right. I don't see any from our village though…I think they might have imprisoned some of their own people too! There're prisoners for failed duties and missions….This group isn't playing around, even we don't seriously punish people who failed missions."

"Do you think maybe we might find the woman who attacked Gaara and Sakura? If she came back, she would definitely have been thrown in jail."

"Probably…" Kakashi murmured. He looked away from the paper and glanced around. "Anko, what have you found?"

She held up a sheaf of folders. "Plenty."

"Alright. I guess we have enough information about them. Let's go check out the prison."

They left quickly, leaping back onto the rooftops, and soon enough they were standing on the roof of a guarded building. After some quick planning, Kakashi signaled to Anko and they jumped down, taking out the two guards by the main door. Caught by surprise, they didn't stand a chance and were quickly delt with. "Come on," Kakashi urged, and stepped inside, dragging the guards with him. Sakura jumped down at his back and nervously followed him, Gaara at her back, and Anko locked the door behind her.

She didn't know what she expected, but the word 'prison' had but a few images in her mind. Maybe people shackled to the walls, moaning and barely strong enough to pick up their heads, or in tiny cells with a window no larger than a hand.

All that was in the room were simple barred cells with cots, and people sleeping on them. No one stirred as they entered. In the back of her mind Sakura wondered if that was because they were just sleeping, or if they had their food drugged. There were clipboards attached to each door, and Sakura edged to the closest one to read it. There was only one person inside the cell, and the paper read, "Toru Tachibana. Suna ninja. Refused to give specified information, absolute limited food rations."

"Gaara," Sakura called. "Do you recognize him?" He walked over and looked between the bars.

"I can't tell, his arm is covering most of his face," he said.

"According to this list, most of the prisoners are from your village," Anko said. "We weren't planning for this, but needless to say we're going to have to get them out from here. It's going to be a problem though if some of them are weak, because we need to get them out quickly."

"Do we have any keys?" Sakura asked, looking at the locks on the cell doors. They looked pretty heavy duty, and she doubted Kakashi would be able to pick them.

Kakashi shook his head. "The guards we took out didn't have any on them, I checked."

"Alright…" Sakura rubbed her hands on her thighs. "Then we'll just have to rip them off…I hope this won't be loud." Carefully she gripped the door, took a deep breath, and yanked. The hinges popped off and gave off a tiny _clunk _as she set it against the wall. Gaara and Kakashi walked in, the older man gently shaking the captive awake.

He jerked and Kakashi had to quickly push him back into the cot. "Calm down," he ordered. "We're here to get you out."

The man—Toru—saw Kakashi's head band with the leaf village insignia and stopped fighting him. He remained tense though, like he didn't believe it. Gaara put a hand on Kakashi's shoulder and leaned in. "Tachibana. Where are your teammates?"

Toru stared at Gaara, then realized he asked a question. "In the other cells," he said after a moment. Then, "How did you manage to find us?"

"Later," Gaara dismissed. "Sakura, release the others. Quickly."

Kakashi rose an eyebrow, wondering just when Gaara decided he was in charge. "Make sure you don't release any one who isn't from Suna. We don't know the others."

She nodded and moved to the next cell. "Can you walk?" Kakashi asked. Toru nodded, pushing himself up. "My team was only captured a few days ago, we're still in pretty okay condition. There are other people here though that aren't, and won't be able to get out of here themselves."

Sakura popped the next door, and her and Anko went inside. A woman and a man were sleeping—or lying unconscious—on the two cots. Sakura knelt by the woman and carefully shook her. She jerked up and slapped Sakura's hand away, then stopped when she saw her face. Her eyebrows knit in confusion, and then she looked around and saw her teammate talking calmly with the newcomers. When she turned back to Sakura, the younger girl said, "We're going to get you out of here."

Suddenly a harsh clanging noise met their ears, and they all turned. Someone was banging on the door, yelling. "That's the alarm," the woman said, her throat tight. She quickly pushed herself to her feet, but swayed and almost lost her balance.

Sakura was surprised to hear Anko swear. "We don't have time for this!" she hissed. "Sakura, quickly, rip off the other doors. It doesn't matter if they are Sand nin or not, get them out of here! With any luck we'll grab the woman we need to release you."

--

I fizzed out at the end there and am not happy with the outcome, which seems to be happening with every chapter lately. I'm hoping that's because I don't usually write action(ish) or mission themes, so that caused me a little trouble. When I first started this, I wasn't thinking about how it would all work out, and I'm having a hell of a time connecting the dots in logical, well-written chapters, and it seems to be slowing down the story, even though technically it's advancing it. I would appreciate if you, my faithful readers, could point out things I could have done better in this chapter, or the whole story (but please don't propose what to do next, I already have a basic idea.)

I'm losing steam and motivation with this. But don't worry, I've got a basic plan to wrap this up and I promise not to give up. Hopefully once I finish, a little break is all I'm going to need before I start the sequel (yes, there is going to be one).

Long note over.


	24. Chapter 24

Oh-my-god, this is so late! I'm so sorry about that…I tried to keep putting it off, cause I don't want it to end, and before I knew it all this time went by! ARGH! bows down in apology

For this chapter, it's mostly fighting (which I'm not confident in, another reason this is so late) and I'm a bit vague about it. Before you read, I just want you to know I focused completely on Sakura…because I don't really know how anyone else fights.

I'm not happy with the chapter, but it had to be done…bleh.

--

"Alright, we got everybody?" Anko asked, supporting one of the prisoners, an unconscious red haired woman, up.

"Yeah, this is the last of them," Sakura said, leading three people out of the last cell. They were all in capable condition, more or less, though one had to be held up by another. "What's the plan?"

"We have enough information, now we just need to get out of here!" Kakashi said, looking at the door, where—from the sounds outside it—at least six men were trying to force their way in. "They expect us to try to fight them to get out, it's the only exit. We'll just have to make our own." He looked expectantly at Sakura. She nodded and walked over to the wall opposite the door, cracking her knuckles.

"So once we get out, we're going to run for it?"

"Yeah." Kakashi looked around at the captives, and addressed them, "We have a camp just south of here, you should all be able to make it. You'll have to help each other though, and for those of you that are from here," his voice grew stern, "don't try to escape. We're going to help all of you, and don't make it difficult for us. You won't be punished once we get to Konoha." The noise outside the door grew louder, and it didn't look like the door would hold up much longer. Sakura decided that even if Kakashi had more to say, his speech was over—and smashed through the back wall.

Sakura waited just long enough for the heaviest of the debris to fall until she grabbed one of the weaker prisoners, a woman, and started running, leaping on top of the closest rooftop to avoid the men and women that were running into the street. She heard yells and clamoring behind her, and chanced a look over her shoulder. Gaara was right at her heels, Anko and Kakashi bringing up the rear, with all of the previous captives in front of them, two of them being carried. When Sakura turned back, she saw that a wall of black uniforms was gathering in her way.

"Just break through and keep going!" Kakashi yelled to her.

Sakura tightened her grip on the woman in her arms and sped up. Some of the men in front of her pulled out kunai and threw them, but Sakura dodged to the side and kept running, smashing the closet man into his comrades. Sakura ran through the gap, and from the extra yells and crunches, it sounded like the rest of her group had no trouble doing the same. Looking behind her again, she saw Anko and Kakashi fall back to deal with them, making sure that no one could follow them.

Just as it seemed that Sakura and Gaara would be able to escape with the others, a sudden hail of kunai made them screech to a stop. Black clothed ninja dropped from the buildings and attacked, and Sakura scrambled back, trying to find a safe place to set the woman down.

A sudden flash of metal settled that problem.

Sakura only saw the kunai after it was too late, and even as she tried to shield the woman, she was too slow. It darted between her fingers and struck the woman in the neck. Sakura froze as she let out low cry and blood fell on her.

"Sakura! MOVE!" Gaara yelled, dealing with his own attackers.

His voice jerked her to life. She turned a freezing glare at the one who threw the killing blow and lunged forward, forsaking the body. He went down, as did all the others around him. Spinning around, she saw that Gaara had taken care of the rest. Shaking with anger, Sakura turned back to the body, her mouth dry. Without looking at them, she ordered, "All of you, keep going south and find the camp. Wait there. Gaara and I are going back to help Kakashi and Anko."

No one protested and ran by her. Sakura took a deep breath, and tearing her eyes away from the body, said, "Let's go." Gaara nodded and they took off.

It was a good thing, too. Anko and Kakashi were holding there own, but they were outnumbered and were slowly forcing being forced to the edge of the cliff. Sakura threw herself into battle and fought her way through the tide. Anko spotted her and gave her a feral grin before ducking out of sight. Soon the wave of enemies began to thin out, and Sakura had enough time to register where everyone was. The farthest from her was Kakashi, fighting three people, close to the cluster of buildings, and Gaara was taking on two men, and Anko was struggling with a single large man.

"Watch out!" a Gaara yelled, and she turned in time to see a windmill shuriken rocketing towards her. As impossible as it seemed, Sakura froze up, her feet cementing her to the spot.

A wall of sand shot up just in front of her and blocked the fatal blow. Sakura let out a breath she didn't know she had been keeping in and turned around to give Gaara a gratitude-filled smile, but it quickly turned to horror. "WATCH OUT!" she screamed.

Gaara was facing her, hand raised and looking relieved, and didn't see the man who was running towards him. He quickly snapped around and grunted as the man tackled him—knocking them both clear off the cliff.

"GAARA!" Sakura yelled in horror, rushing to the edge. Kakashi, somehow making it over to her in such short time, grabbed her arm, holding her back. She fought him, screaming, "Gaara!"

Kakashi grunted and wrapped his arms around her. Sakura kicked out and tried to throw him off, not knowing what she was going to do once she was free. "Let me go! I have to help him!"

"How are you going to do that?" Kakashi asked harshly, having trouble keeping a hold of her. He knew that if she tried to go after him she could possibly get killed—and that Gaara might already be dead. The drop was at least seven hundred feet.

She bucked, fighting him. "Gaara—GAARA!"

--

Before you complain, I know it's a cliff hanger! I don't want every comment bugging me about it! Trust me, I hate it as much as you do…and I'm planning to write up the next chapter as quick as possible, as an apology for how late this was.

And yeah, it's short, but it needed to be separate from what's going to happen next.

(By the way, did any one notice the important thing that happened that I didn't directly mention?)


	25. Chapter 25

(reposted this because of grammar errors...hope I got them all)

Well, this is it, the last chapter. Can't say I worked hard on it (did it all in one day), but I'm pretty happy with it. Oh, and by the way, for those of you in the previous chapter reviews who all told me I _forgot _about the binding jutsu, I did not appreciate that. Some of you kinda bugged me, the way you said it sounded as if you knew more about the story than I did…

Anyway, I'm happy that some of you figured out what happened! Not a lot of you did, though, which made me a little worried that I should have emphasized 'it' a bit more—how Sakura and Gaara got separated.

--

The first thing Gaara registered was the warmth. It confused him, because the last thing he could remember was...falling, then being cold and in pain. He had to strain to remember, and even while concentrating he could barely remember anything.

His eyelids felt heavy, and he fought to open them. He stared up at a white ceiling, then turned his head to the side, his body feeling stiff. A window was set into the wall that showed off what might be a courtyard, he could see a single tree that was just beginning to bloom. He looked at it for a moment, then look to the other side.

Sakura was sleeping in a chair right beside the bed, slumped forward onto the mattress, pillowing her head with her arms. Gaara stared at her for a moment. She looked exhausted, so he didn't attempt to wake her up. His thoughtfulness was unneeded, though. As if sensing his eyes on him, Sakura began to stir. Her face scrunched up a bit and she shifted, then slowly opened her eyes and sat up. She turned her eyes to Gaara, then her mouth popped open she jumped to her feet.

"Gaara! You're awake!"

Gaara was going to respond, but suddenly Sakura's hands were flitting over him, feeling his pulse at his neck, putting her hand on his cheek to feel his temperature, making sure the bandage on his head was set correctly. Once she was positive he was alright, she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face into his neck, relieved beyond imagination.

Confused and unsure of what to do, Gaara just slid one arm around her, rubbing her back and soothing her quietly, pressing his face into her hair. He went to put his right, arm around her, but couldn't. Looking down at himself, he saw that it was in a sling. "My arm…" he said, baffled.

Sakura pulled herself away and exclaimed, "I'm sorry! Did I hurt it?"

He shook his head. Oddly, he didn't feel any pain. Wryly, he realized he must have been drugged so he didn't feel anything. "How long have I…?"

"You've been out for five days….You're ankle is also broken, along with three of your ribs," she said quietly. Gaara frowned. He didn't remember any of this. Shouldn't he remember this? Seeing his expression, Sakura took a deep breath and said, "You fell off the cliff. The drop was at least seven hundred feet. Your sand saved your life, but even at that height it couldn't completely protect you." Her bit her lip, trying not to remember how horrible it was to see him go over. "Kakashi's the one who found you and brought you back," she added.

"But…the jutsu…"

Sakura nodded. She had been just as confused when she had managed to calm down. "The woman I was carrying…the one who got struck in the neck. She was the one that set it on us, and when she died, it got broken." Her lip trembled, fighting her emotions.

Seeing her fighting back tears made Gaara feel extremely uncomfortable. He hesitated, and pulled her against him, half to comfort her, half so he wouldn't have to see her expression.

Sakura melted into his embrace, refusing to cry, trying to forget everything that had been going on for the last five days. Being the only medic nin on the scene, Sakura had practically worked herself to the bone trying to keep everyone in stable condition. Some of the captives needed immediate attention or they might not have survived, she had to stabilize as many as she could that were in the battle, and having to keep Gaara alive had pushed her to the brink. She hadn't slept in who knew how long, and she must have just plain passed out while watching over Gaara. She was physically, mentally, and emotionally wiped out. But letting Gaara see her cry wouldn't help with any of that, she didn't want him to think of her as being weak. Reluctantly, she pulled away, rubbing her arm. "I'm sorry…"

"You have nothing to apologize for," Anko said, walking into the room. Sakura turned, embarrassed that Anko had seen her. The older woman just grinned, then ducked out into the hallway and called, "Hey, he's awake."

Kakashi and the once-captive Toru walked in. There was something under Kakashi's mask that made it stand out by his nose. To answer Gaara's quizzical look, Anko laughed and said, "When Kakashi wouldn't let Sakura go after you, she punched him in the nose. Broke it. It looks funny because it's all bandaged up under the material."

Gaara frowned and glanced at Sakura, who blushed and looked away. To avoid looking at him, Sakura told Kakashi, "I don't see why you won't let me heal it."

Kakashi shrugged. "Sakura, you've worked hard, you don't need to fix it."

"Lair," Anko accused. "You just want her to feel guilty for hitting you."

Toru stepped close to Gaara's bed and addressed him. "Once you're well, I'm to bring you back to Suna. Do you know when you'll be able to travel?"

Gaara shook his head and looked at Sakura. She frowned, wanting to say months so she could take care of him. "In about five weeks he should be well enough," she said quietly, not meeting Gaara's eyes. It was probably a week more than he would need, but it was just seven extra days. She only had a few weeks to spend with him now, and most of her time would be spent taking care of other people…she closed her eyes momentarily, sighing.

To change the subject, she asked, "How is Hatsumi?"

Gaara faintly recognized the name, figuring it was probably Toru's female partner, the one who had trouble standing in the prison. "She's back to normal," Toru said cheerfully. "Though I have to admit that she isn't the least bit happy about staying and waiting for Gaara to heal, no offence," he added quickly. Gaara just shrugged. "She misses her home."

Anko eyed Sakura, wondering what she was thinking. She obviously wasn't happy about talking of when Gaara had to leave. "Alright, we'll leave you two alone." She grabbed Kakashi's arm and jerked her head at Toru, beginning to walk out. The two men looked confused about why they were leaving so suddenly, but didn't protest.

Sakura watched them leave, both relieved and unhappy. For some strange reason, she felt a little upset. Turning back to Gaara, her chest twisted a bit. Seeing him lie there, with his head bandaged, arm in a sling, and knowing that his chest was wrapped and his leg in cast…it didn't feel right. She didn't like knowing that Gaara could be hurt—before, she hand never even seen him with a scratch on him…and seeing him like this made him so…human.

She sighed and pushed the hair away from her face. She knew it was ridiculous, but she felt that Gaara needed her at her side to keep him safe. How did that make sense, when Gaara got into all this because of protecting her?

"Sakura, what's wrong?"

She opened her eyes, not realizing that she had closed them. "Nothing, I'm just tired, is all." Worried that she was thinking too much, Sakura figured that she should probably leave Gaara before she did something stupid. "Now that I know you're okay, I should check up on my other patients."

Sensing her sudden change, Gaara furrowed his brow. "Aren't there other nurses in this hospital?"

"Yes, but believe it or not, I'm one of the most skilled ones, and some of my patients won't want another doctor."

"You just said that you were tired. Why don't you take a rest?"

"I just did, Gaara, remember? I was sleeping when you woke up."

"Sakura, that was just a nap." He didn't understand why she was fighting him.

She shrugged, inwardly hoping that she could postpone what she thought was coming. She didn't want to have the 'talk' about what was going to happen.

"Sakura."

She hesitated, getting a little defensive about his commanding tone.

Gaara quickly checked himself. "I want you to stay here with me," he said softly.

Slowly, she sat back in her chair. Gaara watched her. "Putting this off won't make it go away, you know."

She winced and put her elbows on the bed, letting her exhaustion show for a bit. "Yeah, I know."

"Sakura, look at me." She turned her eyes up to meet his gaze. "We can make this work."

"Gaara…I don't think we can," Sakura whispered, shaking her head and turning away.

Gaara scowled. He wanted to grab her and force her to meet his eyes, and say that everything was going to be fine, force her to believe him…but due to his injuries, he couldn't quite move enough to do just that. Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself down. He figured that even if he could, being forceful wasn't the best thing to do in this situation.

He reached out with his good hand and took hers, the contact making Sakura blink and look up at him. He leaned forward, ignoring the dull pain his chest emanated in protest, and kissed her on the mouth, well aware that he probably won't get many chances to do that in the next five weeks.

He pulled away, staring her hard in the eyes. "We _will _make this work."

Sakura closed her eyes, wanting to believe him, but she was just so tired that she had trouble thinking at the moment. She sighed. In a quiet voice she ordered, "Sit back, Gaara, before you reopen your wounds."

He frowned, unhappy at her coolness, moving his hand up to her face with the intent of kissing her again. Sakura stood and pushed him back, the doctor in her taking over. "Gaara, if you keep moving around you'll get your bandages bloody, and I just changed them an hour ago."

An amusing image popped in his head. Suddenly in the mood for humor, he chuckled, "You had to change my clothes while I was unconscious, didn't you?" Sakura blushed darkly, and Gaara continued, "Now, doctor, I hope you didn't take advantage of me."

Not happy about where he was going, even though it was lighthearted, she told him, "A male nurse was in charge of that, for your information." She smirked when he made a face. But his little joke brightened her mood…either that, or she really needed a nap. In hopes of getting him to listen to her, she told him, "But I'll tell you what. You be a good patient for me and I'll even help you with a shower."

Gaara raised one suggestive eyebrow, and quickly Sakura blushed red again. "I was kidding!" she told him loudly.

Gaara rolled his eyes, and grabbing the back of her neck and kissing her, he whispered against her lips, "I'm holding you to that either way."

Sakura wondered helplessly just what kind of mess she had gotten herself into, though let herself enjoy the moment. Gaara's mouth was hard but gentle against hers, and his touch on her neck made her skin tingle. She let herself relax, if only for a moment, and forgot all her problems.

They parted and Sakura pressed her face against his neck, wrapping her arms around him, careful of his injuries. As Gaara slid his arms around her, Sakura thought timidly, _Maybe we _can _make this work._

--

prepare for a long ending note, you were warned

My last chapter…makes me kinda sad to see it end. Sigh Though it isn't really over, because I'm planning a sequel (which I will take my time posting, maybe it'll be out by mid-summer?).

Anyway, about this chapter—I'm a little worried that it was a little too soft for Gaara, but I couldn't help it. I've had this scene stuck in my head forever, and if I didn't write it, it wouldn't feel right. And I mentioned our little Toru, and even Hatsumi, just so they'll be in your head for the sequel…just in case I decided to use them. For any things that don't line up with Gaara's sand shield, sorry about that—in the series, I haven't even reached the time skip-thingy that everyone talks about, so I don't know much about his—or anyone's, for that matter—abilities. (But don't give me any spoilers in case you want to help! I'll find out for myself…you wouldn't believe how many things have been ruined for me…)

I want to thank all my readers who hung along until the end…you endured through long times between updates, the occasional butchering of a character's, well, character, and my longest fanfiction ever (so far). Really, I mean it, thanks. Please, review and tell me about your favorite parts of the story, some things you didn't like, I want to hear it all. Tell me anything about it that you want to say, I do not fear the long review! And, like I already said, thanks for sticking around for the end. hugs my (sometimes crazy) readers


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